In recognition of International Mountain Day celebrated on December 11th each year, I wanted to share with you the short video created by the Mountain Partnership to highlight Why Mountains Matter and the sustainable development issues surrounding them.

The Aspen International Mountain Foundation (AIMF) hosted an après ski to promote awareness of critical mountain issues with a highly anticipated interview between Chris Klug and ski legend, Klaus Obermeyer. 

ASPEN - A panel discussion at the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies intends to delve into some of the same issues tackled earlier this year in Brazil during the controversial U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as the Rio Plus 20 Summit. 

That mountains are important to humans seems manifestly self-evident to anyone who lives in and loves them for their beauty and majesty, their cultures and diversity, their ability to soothe the soul and sustain the world.

Two Colorado nonprofits—the Aspen International Mountain Foundation (AIMF) and the Telluride Institute—have submitted a major report on sustainable development in North American mountain ecosystems and communities for the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, a.k.a. Rio+20. The report begins with a brief description of eight major North American mountain ranges, followed by discussions on 11 themes: water, glaciers, mineral, biodiversity, climate change, encroachment/wildland-urban interface, conservation/protected areas, recreation/ecotourism, mountain events, mineral extraction, and poverty/wealth discrepancies. Finally, the report highlights institutional/organizational initiatives on sustainable mountain development that are taking place within North America.

December 15, 2011—Aspen, CO—Preparations for the Rio+20 Earth Summit in June 2012 are well underway. But unlike other parts of the world, North America’s mountainous regions have not yet mobilized to provide input; so we risk not having our issues and our views included in materials presented at the Summit. These materials will help inform and guide important policy decisions dealing with sustainable development over the next decades. Therefore, AIMF and the Telluride Institute (TI) have joined forces to help coordinate a report that describes some of what has been going on in North America for the past 20 years.

On November 28-30, 2011, AIMF President, Karinjo DeVore, participated in the Aspen Creative Arts World Summit in Muscat, Oman. The Summit was a joint initiative between the Aspen Institute’s Global Initiative on Culture and Society and the New Royal Opera House in Muscat.

Aspen, CO— November 27, 2011— Aspen resident Jim True discovered earlier this month that concerns over climate change in mountainous areas can bridge gaps between a wealthy, pre-dominantly white ski resort in America and a subsistence farming village in Uganda, Africa.

AIMF is pleased to announce that it has received a formal invitation from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to establish in Aspen a North American Hub for the Mountain Partnership.

On July 8-10, 2011, AIFM President, Karinjo DeVore, and Secretary, Rebecca Wallace, attended the 2011 Telluride Institute Ideas Festival.

AIMF and the Telluride Institute have just completed a major report on sustainable development in North American mountains for inclusion in the materials being developed for the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, a.k.a. Rio+20.

On March 10-11, 2011, the Coordinator of the United Nations Mountain Partnership Secretariat, Douglas McGuire, visited Aspen and Basalt as AIMF’s guest. Mr. McGuire was in Orem, Utah attending the Women of the Mountains conference (see adjacent News article), and was pleased to accept AIMF’s invitation to visit Aspen and Basalt, which were inducted into the Mountain Partnership membership in 2010.

Aspen, CO—August 24, 2010— The City of Aspen has been welcomed as the newest member of the Mountain Partnership, an international voluntary alliance dedicated to improving the lives of mountain people and protecting mountain environments around the world.

“By joining, Aspen is becoming part of a partnership that is comprised of 50 countries, 16 intergovernmental organizations and over 100 major non-governmental organizations,” said Sally Spaulding, community relations director for the City of Aspen. “Membership, which is free, will stimulate sharing of diverse resources, knowledge and expertise on topics such as global warming and watershed management.”