Roundup: Experts call for saving mountains at global meet in Uganda

Peter Woniala depends on Mount Elgon that straddles the Uganda-Kenya border for survival. Like thousands of farmers on the slopes of the ranges, Woniala's livelihood is dependent on the survival of the mountain, which has fertile volcanic soils.

Experts meeting here at the World Mountain Forum are urging governments to play a critical role in ensuring that mountains are not destroyed in the face of the increasing population growth.

They argue that due to the existence of fertile soils around most mountainous areas in the world, they attract high populations that solely depend on farming to earn a living.

Sue Taylor, an environmental researcher at AFROMONT, an African research institute based in Pretoria, South Africa told the meeting, which attracted over 300 environmentalists from 50 countries, that Africa's population is projected to reach 2.4 billion by 2050 from the current 1.2 billion.

She said with this projected population growth, many people are going to resort to mountainous land and this will destroy the ecological system.

"At this rate, governments need to emphasize family planning plus education so the population can make sensible choices," Taylor told the week-long meeting that seeks to share experiences and strategies for better development in mountainous areas through involvement of local communities.

Musonda Mumba, the coordinator of Ecosystem Based Adaptation at the United Nations Environment Programme said the destructive human activities in mountainous areas have grossly affected natural resources.

"On Mount. Elgon, for instance, there are rivers and streams that have already dried up. And the unique thing with natural resources across Africa, unlike other parts of the world, is that they are trans-boundary, so the destructive activities done on one part of the natural resource affects people on the other side of the resource, too," Mumba said.

Uganda has had a share of the negative effects of human activity in mountainous areas. In March 2010, landslides killed over 300 people around Mount. Elgon. A year later, another 18 people perished in landslides on the same mountain but in a different area. In the same year, 2011, 28 other people were killed in another landslide still on the same mountain.

Jessica Eriyo, the deputy secretary general for the East African Community (EAC) said people living around the mountains need to be involved in sustainable environmental activities that equally rake in income.

"A lot of deforestation occurs around mountains. But to steady the ecosystem after cutting trees, people can, say, grow coffee alongside food crops. Coffee tree roots firm the soils to avoid landslides as well as serving as a source of income," Eriyo told the meeting that closed on Thursday.

EAC is a regional body that brings together Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

This was the first time the World Mountain Forum was held in Africa. The last one, which was the second of its kind, was held in Peru in 2014. This year's meeting was held under the theme of Mountains for our Future.

Documents issued at the meeting showed that apart from the fertile soils, mountains host about 25 percent of terrestrial biodiversity. They also attract about 15-20 percent of global tourism hence hosting rare bird species and endemic mammals. Endit