The world’s mountains encompass some of the most awe-inspiring landscapes, a great diversity of species and habitat types, and distinctive yet often badly disadvantaged human communities.

Covering one quarter of the Earth’s land surface, mountain regions affect every single one of us in many ways. Healthy mountain ecosystems are vital not only to mountain communities, plants and animals, but also for services to lowland peoples, including clean water, energy, food, recreation, and protection from natural disasters such as avalanches and floods.

Today, war, poverty, hunger, climate change and environmental degradation are threatening the web of life that mountains support.

The Bishkek Global Mountain Summit will be the final global event of the 2002 United Nations International Year of Mountains. It will draw together the ideas and recommendations generated throughout the year, from all levels and sectors of society.

On the agenda are new international and regional agreements and co-operation. As well as topics like tourism, biological and cultural diversity, and conflicts in mountain areas.

The 6-700 plus participants will include heads of state from the Central Asia region, as well as ministers and senior government officials from around the world. Other attendees will include the Aga Khan, the executive heads and senior directors from a number of UN organisations, and representatives of non-governmental organisations and indigenous mountain communities.

The Summit is being organised by the Government of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan with the assistance of the United Nations Environment Prgramme (UNEP) and other partner organisations, including FAO, the UN agency responsible for the International Year of the Mountains. The Summit will run from 29 October to 1 November 2002 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.