International Mountain Day

Why is International Mountain Day celebrated?

December 11 is celebrated as International Mountain Day every year. The date was designated by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Celebrated since 2003, International Mountain Day creates awareness about the importance of mountains to life to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build alliances that will bring positive change to mountain peoples and environments around the world, according to the United Nations.

International Mountain Day 2021 theme

This year’s theme for International Mountain Day is Sustainable Mountain Tourism. According to the UN, mountain tourism attracts around 15-20 per cent of global tourism. Sustainable tourism in mountains can be seen as a contribution to creating additional and alternative livelihood options and promoting poverty alleviation, social inclusion, in addition to landscape and biodiversity conservation.

“It is a way to preserve the natural, cultural and spiritual heritage, to promote local crafts and highvalue products, and celebrate many traditional practices such as local festivals,” the UN has said.

As the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has badly affected the tourism sector, the restrictions of the pandemic have further compounded the vulnerabilities of mountain communities. The UN has said the health crisis can be seen as an opportunity to rethink mountain tourism and its impact on natural resources and livelihoods.

Importance of mountains

According to the UN, mountains are home to 15 per cent of the global population. Mountains also host about half of the biodiversity hotspots across the world. Mountains play a significant role in providing water and food supply to the millions of people in the world. Mountains offer 60-80 percent of the world’s freshwater. According to UNO, almost one billion people live in mountain areas, and over half of the human population depends on mountains for water and nutrition.