Abstract
The concept of “commons” is complex; it may relate to property regimes, rules of use and access, recognition of collective importance, or a mixture of these. This paper explores the arguments—developed by a growing epistemic community—to promote mountains as global common goods within the third category. This process may be viewed as starting with the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992, and continuing, in particular, through the International Year of Mountains 2002. It has been supported and advanced by focused publications, the establishment of global networks, and advances in technology. Specific arguments state that mountains are important because: they provide ecosystem services; are vulnerable to climate change; are home to a significant part of humanity, including many who are disadvantaged; and are centers of cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity. Nevertheless, this proposal has been contested within the scientific community and the implications for mountain people remain to be discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barkin, D. (2012). Communities constructing their own alternatives in the face of crisis: Economic globalization in mountain regions. Mountain Research and Development, 32(Suppl), 12–22.
Barkin, D., & Dominy, M. (2000). Mountain lands: Regions of refuge or ecosystems for humanity? In B. Debarbieux & F. Gillet (Eds.), Mountain Regions: A Research Subject? (pp. 71–77). European Commission: Brussels.
Beniston, M., Fox, D., Adhikary, A., Andressen, R., Guisan, A., Holten, J. I., et al. (1995). Impacts of climate change on mountain regions. In R. T. Watson, M. C. Zinyowera, & R. H. Moss (Eds.), Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group I to the Second Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (pp. 191–213). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bernbaum, E. (1997). Sacred Mountains of the World. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Blyth, S., Groombridge, B., Lysenko, I., Miles, L., & Newton, A. (2002). Mountain Watch: Environmental Change and Sustainable Development in Mountains. Cambridge: UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.
Constantin F. (Ed.) (2002). Les biens publics mondiaux: un mythe légitimateur pour l’action collective? Paris, L’Harmattan.
Debarbieux, B. (2004). The symbolic order of objects and the frame of geographical action: An analysis of the modes and the effects of categorisation of the geographical world as applied to the mountains in the West. GeoJournal, 60, 397–405.
Debarbieux, B., & Price, M. F. (2008). Representing mountains: From local and national to global common good. Geopolitics, 13, 148–168.
Debarbieux, B., & Rudaz, G. (2010). Les faiseurs de montagne. Paris: CNRS Editions.
Diouf, J. (2002). Together we can move mountains. Unasylva, 208, 3–4.
European Environment Agency. (2010). Europe’s Ecological Backbone: Recognising the True Value of Our Mountains. Copenhagen: European Environment Agency.
Frey B. S., & Pamini P. (2009). Making World Heritage Truly Global: The Culture Certificate Scheme, Working Paper 419. Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich.
Haas, P. (1992). Introduction: Epistemic communities and international policy coordination. International Organization, 46(1), 1–35.
Huddleston, B., Ataman, E., de Salvo, P., Zanetti, M., Bloise, M., Bel, J., et al. (2003). Towards a GIS-based Analysis of Mountain Environments and Populations. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
Ives, J. D. (1997). Comparative inequalities: Mountain communities and mountain families. In B. Messerli & J. D. Ives (Eds.), Mountains of the World: A Global Priority (pp. 61–84). Carnforth: Parthenon.
Kapos, V., Rhind, D. J., Edwards, M., Price, M. F., & Ravilious, C. (2000). Developing a map of the world’s mountain forests. In M. F. Price & N. Butt (Eds.), Forests in Sustainable Mountain Development: A Report for 2000 (pp. 4–9). Wallingford: CAB International.
Kohler, T., & Maselli, D. (Eds.). (2009). Mountains and Climate Change: From Understanding to Action. Berne: Centre for Development and Environment.
Körner C., & Ohsawa M. (2005). Mountain Systems. In Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Current State and Trends: Findings of the Condition and Trends Working Group. Ecosystems and Human Well-being. Vol 1 (pp. 681–716) Washington DC, Island Press.
Körner, C., & Spehn, E. M. (Eds.). (2002). Mountain Biodiversity: A Global Assessment. New York and London: Parthenon.
Messerli, B. (2012). Global change and the world’s mountains: Where are we coming from, and where are we going to? Mountain Research and Development, 32(Suppl), 55–63.
Messerli, B., & Ives, J. D. (Eds.). (1997). Mountains of the World: A Global Priority. New York/London: Parthenon.
Meybeck, M., Green, P., & Vorosmarty, C. J. (2001). Global Distribution of Mountains and Other Major Relief Classes with Regards to Water Runoff and Population Density. Mountain Research and Development, 21, 34–35.
Mountain Agenda. (1992). An Appeal for the Mountains, Prepared on the occasion of the UNCED Conference 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Berne, Mountain Agenda, Centre for Development and Environment, Institute of Geography, University of Berne.
Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons, The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Price, M. F. (1990). Temperate mountain forests: Common-pool resources with changing multiple outputs for changing communities. Natural Resources Journal, 30, 707–885.
Price, M. F. (1998). Mountains: Globally important ecosystems. Unasylva, 195, 3–12.
Price, M. F. (2008). Maintaining mountain biodiversity in an era of climate change, in: A. Borsdorf, J. Stötter, & E. Veulliet (Eds.), Managing Alpine Future. Proceedings of International Conference October 15–17, 2007, (pp.17–33). Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
Price, M. F., Jansky, L., & Iatsenia, A. A. (Eds.). (2004). Key issues for Mountain Areas. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.
Scott, J. C. (2009). The Art of Not Being Governed. An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Stone, P. B. (Ed.). (1992). The State of the World’s Mountains. London: Zed Books.
United Nations. (1992). United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). (1992). Agenda 21: Earth Summit—The United Nations Programme of Action from Rio, New York, UNCED, http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/index.shtml. Accessed on 21 February 2012.
United Nations General Assembly. (2005). Sustainable Mountain Development, Report of the Secretary-General, A/60/309.
United Nations General Assembly. (2007). Sustainable Mountain Development, Report of the Secretary-General, A/62/292.
United Nations General Assembly. (2009). Sustainable Mountain Development, Report of the Secretary-General A/64/222.
Verschuuren, B., Wild, R., McNeely, J., & Oviedo, G. (Eds.). (2010). Sacred Natural Sites: Conserving Nature and Culture. London: Earthscan.
Viviroli, D., & Weingartner, R. (2004). The hydrological significance of mountains—from regional to global scale. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 8, 1016–1029.
Vogler, J. (1995). The Global Commons: A Regime Analysis. Chichester: Wiley.
Wymann von Dach, S., Ott, C., Kläy, A., & Stillhardt, B. (2006). Will international pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals alleviate poverty in mountains? Mountain Research and Development, 26, 4–8.
Acknowledgements
This chapter is an updated and shortened version of an article written by the same authors and published in Geopolitics (Debarbieux and Price 2008). It was first published in Mountain Research and Development (MRD): Debarbieux B. and Price M.F. 2012. Mountain Regions: A Global Common Good? Mountain Research and Development 32 (Suppl):S7-S11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-11-00034.S1. It is reprinted here with kind permission of the co-copyright holders, who retain the rights of reproduction: the International Mountain Society (IMS) and the United Nations University (UNU), c/o MRD Editorial Office, Bern, Switzerland (www.mrd-journal.org). It was presented at, and has a special focus on, issues discussed at the Perth 2010 conference (Global Change and the World’s Mountains, Perth, Scotland, UK, 26–30 September 2010), and was subsequently presented at the conference of the IGU Commission on Marginalization, Globalization and Regional and Local Response C.08.27, in Nainital, India, on 2 May 2011.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Debarbieux, B., Price, M.F. (2016). Mountain Regions: A Global Common Good?. In: Chand, R., Leimgruber, W. (eds) Globalization and Marginalization in Mountain Regions. Perspectives on Geographical Marginality, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32649-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32649-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32648-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32649-8
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)