In Ladakh, India, a mountainous region prone to natural hazards, particularly floods, it is critical to adapt disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures to the local environment. The floods that struck Ladakh in 2010 created momentum for local authorities and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to engage in DRR initiatives in order to better prepare people to cope with and recover from emergencies. This paper analyzes the way DRR approaches in Ladakh, from the central government to the district level, take both vulnerability and capacity into account. National and state policies are integrated and reflect the vulnerability concept quite well. However, as the case of Ladakh shows, establishing policies does not guarantee that appropriate practices will follow. Although NGOs' relief efforts in 2010 were praised for building on local communities' context and capacities, most practitioners still view DRR through a hazard-focused lens. Likewise, the policy framework for DRR does not yet address the socioeconomic construction of disasters and is not translated into adequate interventions that build on lessons learned during the 2010 emergency. Development obstacles, such as corruption, may also compromise efforts to translate DRR policies into appropriate and sustainable practices. However, local development projects that enhance the resilience of local mountain communities exist and could be valued as effective DRR. Emphasis should be placed on the practical integration of DRR in sustainable development efforts in order to better tackle disasters.

Lesotho's landlocked mountainous setting with thin regolith cover and poor economic situation make it vulnerable to hazardous events associated with climate such as drought, floods, strong winds, heavy snowfall, and severe frost. To date, no quantitatively based vulnerability assessment has been undertaken in this heavily populated, developing region in southern Africa. The primary aim of this study was to assess social vulnerability of communities to natural hazards by applying a place-based social vulnerability index developed for the United States, to the Lesotho context. The study used 2006 Lesotho census data, district government records, and household interviews to identify 27 indicators of social vulnerability in southern Lesotho, and then used principal components analysis to generate a social vulnerability index for the study region. Index scores were summed and then mapped to quantify spatial variability in social vulnerability. The study results show a clustering of highly vulnerable communities in the rural highlands as a result of underdevelopment, poverty, and inaccessibility.

Changes to land use such as the removal of natural vegetation and expansion of urban areas can result in degradation of the landscape and an increase in hydro-meteorological risk. This has led to higher interest by decision-makers and scientists in the future consequences of these drivers. Scenario development can be a useful tool for addressing the high uncertainty regarding modeling future land use changes. Scenarios are not exact forecasts, but images of plausible futures. When studying future land dynamics, emphasis should be given to areas experiencing high rates of socioeconomic change. We have focused on the eastern Italian Alps, which face increasing pressure from tourism development. Identified drivers of local land use change are mostly external and difficult to quantify. This area, characterized by a traditional Alpine landscape, is subject to high levels of hydro-meteorological risk, another reason to study potential future land use changes. We tested a scenario generation method based on existing decisions and assumptions about future tourism development. We aimed to develop a framework leading to plausible scenarios that can overcome data inaccessibility and address external drivers. We combined qualitative methods, such as stakeholder interviews and cognitive mapping, with geospatial methods, such as geographic information systems, geostatistics, and environmental modeling. We involved stakeholders from the beginning to support the steps of generating data, understanding the system of land use change, and developing a land use change model for scenario development. In this way, we generated spatio-temporal scenarios that can assist future spatial planning and improve preparedness for possible undesirable development.

Because of some land-use practices (such as overstocking with wild ungulates, historical clear-cuts for mining, and locally persisting forest pasture), protective forests in the montane vegetation belt of the Northern Limestone Alps are now frequently overaged and poorly structured over large areas. Windthrow and bark beetle infestations have generated disturbance areas in which forests have lost their protective functions. Where unfavorable site conditions hamper regeneration for decades, severe soil loss may ensue. To help prioritize management interventions, we developed a geographic information system-based model for assessing sensitivity to site degradation and applied it to 4 test areas in the Northern Limestone Alps of Austria and Bavaria. The model consists of (1) analysis of site conditions and forest stand structures that could increase sensitivity to degradation, (2) evaluation of the sensitivity of sites and stands, and (3) evaluation and mapping of mountain forests' sensitivity to degradation. Site conditions were modeled using regression algorithms with data on site parameters from pointwise soil and vegetation surveys as responses and areawide geodata on climate, relief, and substrate as predictors. The resulting predictor–response relationships were applied to test areas. Stand structure was detected from airborne laser scanning data. Site and stand parameters were evaluated according to their sensitivity to site degradation. Sensitivities of sites and stands were summarized in intermediate-scale sensitivity maps. High sensitivity was identified in 3 test areas with pure limestone and dolomite as the prevailing sensitivity level. Moderately sensitive forests dominate in the final test area, Grünstein, where the bedrock in some strata contains larger amounts of siliceous components (marl, mudstone, and moraines); degraded and slightly sensitive forests were rare or nonexistent in all 4 test areas. Providing a comprehensive overview of site and forest stand structure sensitivity to site degradation, our sensitivity maps can serve as a planning instrument for the management and protection of mountain forests.

Family farming plays a vital role in mountain areas. Its survival is related to multiple factors, including intrafamily farm succession. This study examined data on apple-producing family farms in an Italian Alpine valley, trying to identify which factors foster or discourage intrafamily succession and to what extent they do this, both at the farm level and from the potential successor's viewpoint. To do so, various farm, farmer, and individual characteristics were analyzed using probabilistic regression. We found that intrafamily succession was more likely when the farm was managed by a woman ( 20%) with a high school diploma ( 13%) who had at least 1 child with specialized education in agriculture ( 27%) and when farm sales had increased in recent years ( 25%). We also found that a child's willingness to take over the family farm decreases as the number of farm children increases and when the child is a female with a high school diploma; however, the likelihood that children will take over the family business rises as farmer education level and work experience increase. These findings, while mixed, suggest that women play a key role in keeping family farming alive in mountain areas, along with education of family members, improved marketability of agricultural products, and in general, competitiveness and profitability of the family farm.

With the increasing emergence of renewable energy sites in Switzerland, new impacts on the landscape can be observed. Above the Alpine village of Bellwald, a pilot project testing avalanche barriers as a possible site for photovoltaic installations was inaugurated in 2012. This study focused on social aspects of the project and asked questions about local residents' and tourists' perceptions of and attitudes toward the installations. Its findings reveal that the new elements are not perceived as a drastic intrusion into the landscape, because the view was already affected by the avalanche barriers, which are accepted because of their vital protective function. No significant difference was found between residents' and tourists' evaluation of the new photovoltaic installations. However, different factors influenced the perceptions of these 2 groups. In both groups, conceptions related to place played an important role in the evaluation of possible photovoltaic sites.

The broad-leaved Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) mixed forest (BKPF) is one of the most biodiverse zonal communities in the northern temperate zone. Changbai Mountain in northeastern China contains one of the largest BKPFs in the region. The government of China has established a network of 23 nature reserves to protect the BKPF and the species that depend on it for habitat, including the endangered Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica). This study used the conservation planning software C-Plan to calculate the irreplaceability value of each unit to assess how efficiently and comprehensively the existing conservation network supports biodiversity and to identify gap areas that, if integrated into the network, would expand its protection capability. Results show a number of high-conservation-value planning units concentrated along certain ridges. The existing conservation network is structured such that the habitats of only 24 species (out of a total of 75) achieve established conservation targets. Of the other 51 species, 20 achieve less than 50% of their conservation targets. However, expanding the network to include high-conservation-value gap areas could achieve conservation targets for 64 species and could provide different degrees of protection to the other 11 species. Using C-Plan software can guide decision-making to expand the conservation network in this most precious of mountainous ecological zones.

Recent developments in hydrological modeling and biomass retrieval in complex mountain areas have heightened the need for accurate precipitation data at high spatial resolution. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) provides rainfall estimates for certain climate models in mountain ranges where rain gauges are lacking. TRMM precipitation estimates, however, inherently have large uncertainties because of their coarse spatial resolution. In this study, we investigate a statistical downscaling calibration procedure to derive high-spatial-resolution (1-km) precipitation maps for the Tibetan Plateau using the satellite-based data set Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, a digital elevation model from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, and the TRMM 3B43 product. Spatial downscaling from 0.25° to 1 km was achieved by using the nonparametric statistic relationships between precipitation and EVI, altitude, slope, aspect, latitude, and longitude. An additive method was used to calibrate the downscaled precipitation data. The best 1-km resolution annual precipitation data for 2001–2012 over the Tibetan Plateau were generated through downscaling and additive calibration for most cases. The results show that the method improves the accuracy of rainfall estimates. Monthly 1-km precipitation data were also obtained by disaggregating 1-km annual downscaled estimates with monthly fractions of annual total precipitation. Monthly precipitation predictions are in good agreement with rain gauge data. The calibration of the monthly product with rain gauge data significantly reduced the bias value. Overall we conclude that the methodology is useful for areas with varied climate conditions and complex topography. These results have practical implications for calculating hydrological balances, mapping aboveground biomass, and assessing regional climate change.

In recent decades, a number of global frameworks have been developed for disaster risk reduction (DRR). The Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015 and its successor document, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, adopted in Japan in March 2015, provide general guidance for reducing risks from natural hazards. This is particularly important for mountainous areas, but DRR for mountain areas and sustainable mountain development received little attention in the recent policy debate. The question remains whether the Hyogo and Sendai frameworks can provide guidance for sustainable mountain development. This article evaluates the 2 frameworks in light of the special challenges of DRR in mountain areas and argues that, while the frameworks offer valuable guidance, they need to be further adapted for local contexts—particularly for mountain areas, which require special attention because of changing risk patterns like the effects of climate change and high land-use pressure.

The Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at the University of Bern has long-standing experience in conducting research in mountain regions around the world. CDE considers mountain regions to be a crucial context for sustainable development. Together with its partners, CDE aims to generate in-depth contextual knowledge about the dynamic social, economic, and ecological processes in mountain regions and elsewhere, with a view to informing development practices, while at the global level it engages in activities that help bring together these regional insights with the goal of informing policy-making. In doing so, CDE addresses the specific challenges of sustainable development—in mountains and elsewhere.