Mountain ecosystems are found on every continent and sustain an estimated 10 percent of the world’s population. In addition, billions of people living in the lowlands depend on mountain ecosystems for food and other resources such as water, raw materials, and energy. These areas are also important sources of plant and animal diversity, both wild and domestic.

In the past few decades, environmental changes and rapid increases in population densities in these mountain areas have increased problems for planning effective resource management strategies. Although the key role played by mountain agro-ecosystems has received increased global attention since the landmark 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (Earth Summit), many mountain communities continue to live in severe poverty.

This trend is beginning to reverse, as reflected in the decision by the United Nations to designate 2002 as the International Year of Mountains. CIP and other Future Harvest Centers are contributing by utilizing their integrated natural resource management programs to intensify efforts to alleviate poverty, increase food security, and protect the environment in mountain areas throughout the world. CIP is also playing a key role as one of the three founding organizations of the Mountain Forum, a global information network concerned with mountain culture, environment, and development.

GOALS. The central goal of this project is to increase and improve productive and sustainable natural resource management in selected mountain areas. Management practices, methodologies, policy recommendations, and analytical tools are now being developed jointly with national agricultural systems. They are complemented with appropriate training and are aimed at enhancing the capability of local and national researchers and authorities to analyze their problems, search for windows of opportunities through which to intervene, and assess the tradeoffs of interventions.

OUTPUT. The outputs of the project are contained within four categories.

• Research tools and methodologies are designed and tested to suit the demands of researchers in natural resource management. They include process-based simulation models, artificial intelligence, integration of remote sensing and models, spatial interpolation of climatic data, the use of multifractals, and the analysis of tradeoffs between agricultural productivity and its impact on the environment.
• Best management practices resulting from field experiments and case studies are also documented and systematized. These include indigenous practices, best soil management practices, reclamation of saline soils, best potato management practices and technologies, erosion control practices, and improved pasture and livestock management.
• Policy recommendations are a focal point for a team of researchers working with policy makers at local, regional, and national levels. These policy makers will be in a position to make better informed decisions through ex-ante assessment of tradeoffs (between production and environment) by characterizing various scenarios.
• Capacity building is a component of the project that aims at enabling diverse members of the society at large to understand not only the vulnerability of mountain agro-ecosystems but also how their destruction directly affects their own lives. CD-ROMs, internet-based diffusion of results and simulations, training, and the use of virtual reality will be utilized to socialize the project findings and bridge the existing gap between scientists and the general public.

IMPACT. The impact of the project is anticipated to occur on three levels.

On the first level, farmers, researchers, extension agents, and development projects directly involved in the research will be the main beneficiaries.

In a small farming community in the highlands of Peru, CIP partners are working to improve grazing pastures and raise the productivity of livestock systems.

On the second level, those targeted will be the researchers who will use the methodologies and tools, the farmers who will adopt better management practices, and the decision makers who will implement policies that enhance the adaptive capacity of the resources under their jurisdictions.

On the third level, initial steps will be taken to raise the awareness of the general public in order to better understand the impact of decisions made regarding mountain agro-ecosystems and communities.

The project will provide advances in research methods, training, information dissemination to the general public, and the facilitation of better informed decision making by stakeholders at all levels.


Better decision making results in a more positive policy and technology environment, which in turn can lead to such indirect gains as producing higher incomes for resource-poor farmers in mountain areas and fostering a healthier and sustainable environment for present and future generations.

For more information, please contact Roberto Quiroz, Natural Resources Managment Division Leader, Apartado 1558, Lima 12, Peru, or at r.quiroz@cgiar.org