International Mountain Day: Biodiversity...

International Mountain Day: Biodiversity and mountains.



The United Nations General Assembly declared 11 December 2003 as International Mountain Day, and we have been marking it worldwide ever since. The Alpine Association of Slovenia prepares a message for this day every year, which this year takes place under the slogan Biodiversity and mountains, its author is the vice-president of PZS Irena Mrak.







International Mountain Day this year is focused on recognising the importance of biodiversity in mountain areas. The latter cover around 27 percent of the land area of our planet and are important from various perspectives, among other things they are an important source of drinking water supplies, not only for the inhabitants of mountain areas but also for many who live in lower-lying areas. Mountain areas are also special in terms of plant and animal species that have adapted and continue to adapt to specific geographical conditions – higher altitudes, demanding relief and climatic conditions and consequently more intense disasters. And not only plants and animals, but also people (more than a billion of them) who live in mountain areas have had to adapt to such landscapes for millennia. This is only possible with good knowledge of the conditions, respect for the laws of nature and adaptation of our interventions in this space. There are many endangered plant and animal species in the mountains. Humans have threatened them and continue to do so, but climate change is increasingly affecting them. In particular, higher temperatures allow individual plant species to spread to altitudes where they were not previously present.







We who are only visitors to the mountains also have a special role. Visiting the mountains is becoming more and more mass everywhere in the world and also in Slovenia. In doing so, we directly and indirectly affect plants and animals. The dynamics of our visits today is different from what it was in the past. Today, as visitors to the mountains, we are present almost all the time – day and night, which means that with our also increasingly diverse activities (not only walking and climbing, but many other forms of recreation) we interfere with the daily life of plants and animals. That is why at the Alpine Association of Slovenia we are aware of how important it is to build on the best possible knowledge of nature, not only among our member clubs and members, but also more broadly. After all, more and more people are going to the mountains, but they actually don't know much about them, they find them interesting, they are a challenge for them or they are simply beautiful to them. It is right that all of us who have knowledge about the mountains spread it and pass it on. The exceptional value of trainings within the association, inter-municipal committees and mountaineering societies as well as the Slovenian Mountaineering Museum is organising trainings and individual events where experts from various fields participate and share their rich knowledge with us also in the field of biodiversity. All these activities reflect the awareness of our membership of the importance of upgrading knowledge throughout life, which is ultimately the only key to success also in preserving biodiversity.







Let us respect all who are at home in the mountains – plants, animals and people.







Irena Mrak, vice-president of the Alpine Association of Slovenia