2006 年 10 巻 1 号 p. 117-123
This paper presents an overview on UNESCO’s activities in the field of conserving mountain resources and promoting sustainable development through two of its major programmes: the Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB), and the World Heritage Convention. The MAB Programme, launched in 1971, is an international environmental research and conservation programme to study and improve the relationship between people and their environment. It promotes environmental conservation with sustainable use of resources. Governed by an International Coordinating Council of 34 States, the MAB Programme counts today 144 national committees with field and programme activities in over 110 countries. The former MAB project area ‘Human impact on mountain and tundra ecosystems’ has given rise to numerous integrated mountain research projects. With its focus on biosphere reserves, the MAB Programme is now promoting environmental conservation objectives with a human-centred approach. The World Heritage Convention, for which UNESCO provides the Secretariat, protects the world’s most outstanding natural sites in mountain environments. Its prestige and visibility promote tourism in mountains with potential benefits to local people, but may also entail threats to fragile mountain ecosystems if appropriate management plans are not worked out or respected. The case of the Yellowstone World Heritage site illustrates how the Convention’s mechanism of ‘Danger Listing’ may reduce adverse impacts on the integrity of the site.
