Few mountain communities remain untouched by the influence of globalization. Until just 30 years ago, the village of Jardhar in Garhwal, India, in the middle Himalaya led an isolated existence, living from a composite agroecology that ensured a high degree of food security and ecological sustainability. Certain events—forest degradation, the Chipko resistance movement (tree hugging), the introduction of Green Revolution farming, and the building of the large Tehri dam nearby—ended this isolation and, in the process, disrupted Jardhar's social and ecological cohesiveness. The present article argues that the global conservation ethic and global development are, in certain circumstances, detrimental to local interests: they transfer costs from powerful urban centers and demand sacrifices from fragile mountain communities. The story of Jardhar illustrates how this global politics is played out in a remote mountain village, and what lessons it has for both policy makers and communities.

In the context of mountain development—eg in the Indian Central Himalayan Region (ICHR)—the role of micro-enterprises in poverty eradication and extending employment opportunities with very low capital is self-evident. Micro-enterprises have been well established in promoting equity-based participatory development in rural areas in the ICHR. Women play a vital role through collective entrepreneurship in mountain regions for achieving socioeconomic equity and ecological sustainability. The Rawain Women's Cooperative Federation (RWCF) established in Yamuna valley, Uttarakhand, in the western part of the ICHR, has emerged as a role model of sustainable rural livelihoods. The diversification of agriculture in mountain regions according to the RWCF pattern has played an important role in ensuring participation of women in policy making, community-based interventions, and institutional support. With this experience women have been capable of visualizing and realizing the opportunities offered by globalization.

Most small farmers in remote areas like the southern highlands of Tanzania cannot link to markets. Lack of information and lack of power at the negotiating table leave them open to exploitation by other participants in the market chain. Phase 1 of the First Mile Project, implemented from June 2005 to March 2006, set out to help small farmers improve their access to markets and market information. Good communication is vital in marketing. The project encouraged people in isolated rural communities to use new information and communication technologies (ICTs), including the mobile phones that are spreading rapidly throughout Tanzania, as well as E-mail and the Internet to share local experience and learn from one another. At the heart of the project is an innovative approach called Linking Local Learners (LLL). It enables poor farmers, traders, processors, and others from rural areas to learn together how to build profitable marketing chains from producers to consumers. By encouraging smallholder farmers to use mobile phones and the Internet to collaborate and learn together, First Mile enables them to participate more equally in time-sensitive, complex marketing transactions and to take advantage of the opportunities offered by globalization.

Changes in the economies, societies and politics of Europe and across the globe that have taken place since 1990 have started to impact upon ‘transition countries.’ People in the mountainous regions of Eastern Europe have begun to face completely new economic and ecological problems. The increased incorporation of rural subsistence economies into the world market will inevitably lead to socioeconomic change. Decision makers at the national and regional levels promote this process to a certain extent; yet they are in part also forced to simply follow its course. This is inducing major alterations to landscapes, brought about by increasing farm sizes and greater specialization, mechanization, and intensification on more fertile soils. Existing conflicts between over-exploitation of resources and sustainable land use await resolution. This can be achieved through the creation of new economic perspectives and with the participation of stakeholders, including politicians, government, and local people. A traditional cultural landscape in the Apuseni Mountains of Romania, its land use systems, and future perspectives for sustainable development were analyzed in the context of the Proiect Apuseni, an inter-and transdisciplinary bi-national project based in Romania and Germany. The aim of the project was to investigate the transformation processes, to identify and evaluate development strategies, and to make recommendations for sustainable regional development in participation with the local people and Romanian politicians.

The Nevado de Toluca National Park, Mexico, performs important support, regulation, natural production, and cultural functions. Today these functions are severely endangered by the use of the Park's natural resources by people living within and near the National Park. Do payments for environmental services (PES), including schemes for carbon sequestration, offer alternatives that enhance livelihood options for local people and at the same time conserve the multiple functions of the protected area? This question was the basis of an assessment that elaborated the pros and cons of PES, with a special focus on the constraints of entering global carbon markets—the proposition emerging from today's increasingly globalized world. We compare the potential benefits of PES against the market value of forest resources for the local population. Alternative schemes, which do not necessarily involve monetary valuation, are proposed.

Tibetan grasslands constitute one of the most important grazing ecosystems in the world. Distributed widely across the high plains and mountains of the Tibetan plateau, these grasslands encompass the source areas of many major Asian rivers. Around 40 percent of the world's population depends on, or is influenced by, these rivers. Tibetan grasslands also support a unique assemblage of flora and fauna with many rare and endemic species. A variety of government policies have been applied in recent years to protect the ecology and biodiversity of China's grasslands. There is growing concern, though, that national and global economic considerations have overshadowed emerging conservation agendas. Additionally, the social dimensions of these policies deserve more attention than they have received to date. The present article critically reviews several key policies affecting pastoralists, with special attention given to the Sanjiangyuan region of Qinghai Province. Plateau Perspectives, an international NGO, has worked in this region for nearly a decade, promoting a more people-centered approach to conservation and development, thus giving a voice to local Tibetan pastoral communities.

As Vietnam has become increasingly integrated into the global economy, internal migration to the highland frontier has been a major driving force behind its burgeoning coffee industry. Examination of migrant experiences in the Red River Delta and the Central Highlands—migrant sending and receiving communities, respectively—illustrates that livelihood opportunities for coffee-growing migrants are accompanied by an increased exposure to risks and therefore a potential for greater livelihood insecurity. Risks emerge from fluctuations in international coffee markets, the perils of environmental degradation, and increasing social instability in the Central Highland region. Migrants manage these risks in various ways, often drawing on resources provided through migrant networks. The research indicates that a reliance on non-migrating family members for support can be beneficial for migrants who farm coffee. However, this “safety net” for migrants can ultimately lead to an increase in insecurity for the entire migrant household.

Little is understood about the role of transhumance in subsistence economy and the interactions between cattle, forest, and pasture-land in the Himalaya. We examined herding practices and the effects of grazing on forest ecology and grassland, using rapid rural appraisal techniques with transhumant herders in Haa and Merak in western and eastern Bhutan. Cattle are the main source of livelihood, contributing 71% and 84% of the herders' gross annual household income in Haa and Merak, respectively. Transhumance is a direct response to cold temperatures, shortage of forage, and the search for livelihood opportunities. Grazing rights over rangeland are individual and community-owned. Grazing regulations are based on mutual understanding and equity among high-elevation pastoralists and low-elevation sedentary cattle owners. The sustained use of rangeland requires accommodation of traditional rights and more clarity about ownership and rangeland management. Temperate forests and grasslands along the established migratory livestock routes exhibit signs of overgrazing that vary with forest types. Rotational grazing is recommended, particularly on severely depleted ranges.

In this study, analysis of land use and suitability maps for 2 contrasting mountainous ecosystems was used to identify areas where a change from existing to potential land use was required. A socioeconomic survey was carried out to select locations for implementing 2 land management packages with the full participation of farmers. The first package included cultivation of wheat landraces in a high-rainfall site (Ajloun), while the second included community-based rangeland rehabilitation and management, including fodder shrub plantations in water harvesting structures in the low-rainfall rangeland areas (Jiza). Results showed that the average grain and straw yield of wheat landraces was significantly higher than that of the improved cultivars, which could lead to high and diverse farm income. In the low-rainfall site, fodder shrubs increased the overall land productivity and aided in improving the cover of native vegetation. After 2 years of protection, dry matter production (620 kg/ha) in the community-protected location was significantly higher than that at an experimental station (465 kg/ha). Findings from both packages indicated the possibility of improving the suitability of both mountainous areas for rainfed cultivation while conserving agrobiodiversity. Development of the arid areas as open ranges could be enhanced by the introduction of suitable cultivation practices (contour furrows in this study), with a view to improving productivity and rehabilitating the native vegetation.

Despite the geographic and context-specific nature of the relationship, the strong link between biodiversity use and poverty is acknowledged worldwide. Biodiversity is seen as both being negatively affected by, and contributing in the fight against, poverty. Agathosma betulina (buchu), a plant growing in the Cederberg Mountains in South Africa, has a global commercial value for use in medicine, food and cosmetics. It is also popular among the poor for the significant cash income it generates for the harvesters. Scientists and conservationists believe that its commercialization will lead to its extinction. However, these concerns are mainly based on scientific studies, with limited perspectives from social analyses. This paper presents the case study of Elandskloof, a mountain communal property farm occupied by poor people, where buchu harvesting is important to local incomes. The paper shows that conflicts among community members and between them and outsiders characterize buchu harvesting. Poverty, the ambiguity of the permit system for harvesting of and trading in buchu, as well as the challenges presented by a common property tenure regime, currently compromise buchu's sustainability. The conclusion is that more social studies are needed, in order to fully appreciate what is needed to ensure sustainability of a high value natural resource in the midst of poverty.

The Drakensberg is the highest mountain range in southern Africa and is considered a valuable natural and economic resource; it is also a primary tourist destination in the region. The present article compares recent tourism development and management in the well-established Royal Natal National Park (RNNP) and the adjoining Mnweni Valley, which is a developing center and former apartheid homeland. Trends in tourist characteristics, governance, and revenue streams are presented for the two centers. Although the Mnweni region has experienced significantly greater percentage growth in visitor numbers than the RNNP over the last few years, it currently lacks the capacity to ensure adequate conservation of the mountain environment. Given the considerable contrasts in mountain tourism development in the Drakensberg, it is essential to establish mountain sustainability networks and collaboration between local and regional “actors.”

The present article analyzes the land use dynamics caused by hydropower dam construction in 1973 in the Fincha'a watershed (1318 km²), a tributary of the Blue Nile. Aerial photos (1957 and 1980) and an ASTER satellite image of 2001 were used to make 3 land use maps of the watershed using a geographic information system (GIS). The 239-km² water reservoir inundated 100 km² of grazing land, 120 km² of swamp, 18 km² of cropland, and 1.2 km² of forestland. In 2001, cropland covered 77% of the land potentially available for community use, indicating that there is hardly any free land available for expansion to accommodate new farmers. Relocated communities operate on relatively small parcels of land situated either on steep slopes or in flood-prone areas. Consequently, they exhaustively utilize the trees available on their holdings, and convert grassland and bush-land to cropland, without applying sufficient soil conservation measures. Farmers resettled at or near bodies of water and swamps, however, are affected by seasonal fluctuations of water levels that very often inundate croplands, grazing land, and homes. The demand for cropland and grazing land is increasing as reservoir and swamp areas expand and new families are created. Soil erosion in steep areas can no longer be reduced in the traditional farming system. These enforced land use changes, combined with a lack of appropriate land management practices, may increase erosion and reservoir sedimentation. This could affect food security and electric power production in the near future.

The Andean cat (Leopardus jacobitus), one of the world's most threatened felids, forms part of the little-known carnivore guild occurring in the dry areas of the High Andes. Although human–carnivore conflicts are among the major causes of carnivore population decline, no data are available on this issue for the High Andes. We report here the results of the first survey of human perceptions of, and attitudes towards, carnivores in the high-altitude Andes of Argentina. Interviews with 50 adults and 226 schoolchildren revealed that pumas (Puma concolor) and foxes (Lycalopex culpaeus) are considered pests for preying upon livestock and are actively hunted by adults. Although perceptions of the Andean cat and the Pampas cat (Leopardus colocolo) were more positive, especially among schoolchildren, they are also frequently killed by local people. We suggest that, contrary to what was previously thought, hunting might be affecting the conservation status of the Andean cat and of some puma populations in the High Andes of Argentina, and that education strategies may help to improve human attitudes, particularly in the case of the endangered Andean cat.