Mountain Conservation
Deforestation Though deforestation is more commonly associated with tropical areas, mountain trees have also been unsustainably cleared for farming, mining and logging. In the mountains of southwest China, for instance, only 8% of original forest remains. When forest cover is lost, runoff and soil erosion increase, causing landslides, avalanches and floods. Like their tropical counterparts, mountain forests store large quantities of carbon; their loss exacerbates climate change. Food insecurity Mountain glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates, threatening the plants and animals that mountain people, already among the world’s poorest citizens, depend on for survival. The number of people living in mountain areas in developing countries facing food insecurity rose 30% between 2000 and 2012, from 253 million to nearly 329 million. That means that one in three people who live in mountain areas — urban and rural — faced hunger and malnutrition, compared with one in nine globally. ...