Report of activities and accomplishments 2004

This report of activities for the IUCN WCPA Mountains Biome Theme reflects a dynamic year of transition, with exciting achievements, contributions to mountain management and investments in planning and organisation. Larry Hamilton formally transferred the Mountains leadership baton to Deputy Vice Chair Graeme in late 2003 and also accepted a role as Senior Advisor and Editor of “Update” as part of a new Mountains Biome Theme Executive team. Highlights for the 2004 Mountains network year included:

HIGHLIGHTS

Individual international recognition

1. Formal international recognition of the outstanding mountains conservation work of former WCPA Vice Chair Mountains (now Senior Advisor), Emeritus Professor Larry Hamilton was provided, with his receipt of the prestigious Belgian King Albert I Gold Medal on September 11^th 2004 (which he humbly accepted on behalf of the Mountains Theme network). Larry also received the “Distinguished Scientist Award” from the University of Hawai’I in July, for his work over a decade and a half for mountain cloud forest conservation.

2. Mountain member Chandra Gurung was awarded the Knight, First Class, Order of the Lion of Finland by the President of Finland on May 17^th 2004 in recognition of his environmental conservation work.

3. Mt. Theme member recipients of the Packard International National Parks Merit Award at Bangkok, included Jim Thorsell, Bruce Amos and Allen Putney.

Mountain management capacity building products

3. The editing, publishing and launching of 2 new (practical focused) books on mountain protected area management as a direct flow on contribution from the 2003 Durban World Parks Congress (One of the books was published in English and Spanish).

Promotion of mountain conservation

4. The promotion of large scale global mountain conservation connectivity and cloud forest conservation through two outstanding mountains focused conferences conducted in Hawaii, USA and in Banff, Canada. Both were co-sponsored by the Mountain Theme.

Strategic planning

5. The finalising of a strategic plan for the Mountains Biome for the period 2005-2008. The plan features a range of investments, and in particular 3 management focused workshops dealing with the subjects of mountain connectivity conservation; mountain transboundary conservation and mountain ecotourism.

Organisation structure achieved

6. The establishment of a Mountains Biome Executive for the period 2005-2008 as a basis for achieving the Strategic Plan, and for improving outputs from the mountains network.

2004 IN DETAIL

· The MtPA Network now stands at 480 active members in 60 countries. It has been very active, with events in many countries planned by or contributed to by members.

· Larry (as Editor) generated the Mountain Protected Areas UPDATE newsletter 4 times, during 2004, and distributed it to members. It is also sent to all staff of the Australian Alps NPs at no cost to the Theme, by member Gillian Anderson. And in Russia, Vice-Chair for Eurasia, Natalia Danilina has it translated and sent to her network of Zapovedniks. It is archived by The Mountain Forum in Kathmandu, so that it can be accessed by all workers in Mountains. UPDATE, was mostly funded by the Wilburforce Foundation, thanks to member Gary Tabor.

· Larry helped to organise the successful InternationalMontane Cloud Forests Symposium in Hawaii, USA during July 2004

· Graeme attended and contributed to the “International Mountain Corridors Conference: Protecting the World’s Mountain Corridors and Peace Parks” in Banff Canada, run by member Harvey Locke and his colleagues in and near Banff, Canada.

· Graeme developed a plan to harness the wisdom of large scale connectivity conservation managers at a future workshop (2006 - to help generate a management book on the subject). The plan has been agreed to and a working group has been organised to achieve a workshop event in October 2005 in Catalonia and a final one in November 2006 in Ecuador, and the book.

· Graeme provided his annual IUCN WCPA Mountains lecture at Binna Burra Lodge, Lamington National Park (World Heritage rainforest (and mountains) park) in October 2004.

· At the November 2004 Bangkok World Conservation Congress, David Sheppard, Graeme and a representative of Andromeda Editrice publishers, Professor Federico Cinquepalmi launched two new mountains publications at a successful media event (Carolin Karnath and Linda McMillan provided critical support for this event). The two publications (one published in English and Spanish) were:

o Hamilton, L., McMillan, L. (2004) Guidelines for Planning and Managing Mountain Protected Areas. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

o Hamilton,L., McMillan,L. (2004) Guias para la Planificacion y el Manejo de las Areas Protegidas de Montanas. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

o Harmon, D., Worboys, G.L. (2004) Managing Mountain Protected Areas: Challenges and Responses for the 21^st Century. Andromeda Editrice, Italy.

· Graeme organized a successful Mountains Theme social dinner evening at the Bangkok World Conservation Congress, involving 25 persons. Linda McMillan provided critical help and support forthe evening.

· Graeme provided a presentation to the Bangkok World Conservation Congress Mountains workshop managed by member (and chairman of the IUCN Mountains Initiative Task force), Dr Martin Price

· Graeme secured venues for the capacity building workshops to be conducted in 2006 (Connectivity conservation management: Quito, Ecuador); 2007 (Transboundary management: Kathmandu, Nepal); and 2008 (Ecotourism: JuiZhaiGou, China).

· Graeme attended IUCN WCPA’s Steering Committee meetings in Finland and Bangkok, and represented the Mountains Biome at these forums.

· Graeme and Larry generated the Mountains Biome Theme Strategic Plan, (2005-2008), and Mountains Biome Theme Structure (2005-2008).

· Larry presented papers at the Northeast Alpine Stewardship Meeting in June, in the White Mountains,- and at the Wilderness 40 th Anniversary Celebration in October in the Adirondack Mountains.

MATERIAL PUBLISHED IN 2004

o Hamilton, L., McMillan, L. Eds. (2004) Guidelines for Planning and Managing Mountain Protected Areas. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

o Hamilton,L., McMillan,L. Eds. (2004) Guias para la Planificacion y el Manejo de las Areas Protegidas de Montanas. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. Translation by Elena and Fausto Sarmiento.

o Harmon, D., Worboys, G.L. Eds. (2004) Managing Mountain Protected Areas: Challenges and Responses for the 21^st Century. Andromeda Editrice, Italy.

o Worboys,G. and Hamilton, L.S. (2004) Managing mountain protected areas in the 21^st century. pp1-8 in Harmon and Worboys –see above.

o Thorsell, J. and Hamilton, L.S. (2004) A global overview of mountain protected areas on the World Heritage list. pp9-24 in Harmon and Worboys –see above.

o Worboys, G.L. (2004) WCPA Mountains Biome Theme Workshop Programme, 2005-2008. Mountains Biome Theme, 3 Rischbieth Crescent, Gilmore, ACT, 2905, Australia.

o Hamilton,L.S. (2004) Water from mountain cloud forests. pp91-96 in Mountains as Water Towers, Eds. L. Taylor and A. Ryall, The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

o Hamilton, L.S. (2004) Review of Transboundary Protected Areas: The Viability of Regional Conservation Stategies. Mountain Research and Development 24 (2);187.

This report is composed only of the activities of the Deputy Vice-Chair and Senior Advisor. Not included are contributing time of the PAP staff David Sheppard, Pedro Rosabal, Georgina Peard, Virginia Tschopp, Carolin Karnath and Delwyn Dupuis. Not included are a host of activities carried out by others with the Mountain Protected Areas Network in support of the Theme.

Graeme L. Worboys, Deputy Vice-Chair/Mountain Theme with Senior Advisor, Lawrence S. Hamilton, Mountain Theme. January 31, 2005