Twenty years after the first International Year of Mountains in 2002, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2022 the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development, at the proposal of the Kyrgyz Republic. The corresponding resolution was sponsored by 94 governments.

Why it matters

The proclamation of the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development 2022 not only recognized the need for conserving mountains as a life support system that is indispensable to the survival of the global ecosystem, but it also provided a basis for further substantive work on sustainable mountain development. The Year provided a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the role of mountains and mountain people for our planet and sustainable development as well as for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Mountain Partnership – the United Nations alliance dedicated to mountain peoples and environments – supported the observance. Members of the Mountain Partnership including UNEP and FAO (both also UN Decade custodian agencies) around the world marked this Year with more than 60 events, organized to discuss national and collective approaches to conserving mountain ecosystems and highlight how mountains matter, for people and the planet including putting a spotlight on the theme of restoration.

One such spotlight was the announcement of the Multi-Country Mountain Flagship as one of the first 10 World Restoration Flagships of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, celebrating the success story of mountain restoration efforts in Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, and Uganda and Rwanda. The World Restoration Flagship highlights common challenges and solutions among the four countries, helping double gorilla numbers, slowly increase snow leopard numbers, and preserving valuable ecosystems as some examples.

The main outcome of the Year was the declaration of 2023–2027 as Five Years of Action for the Development of Mountain Regions in the United Nations General Assembly triennial resolution on sustainable mountain development.

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, led by the United Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and its partners, covers terrestrial as well as coastal and marine ecosystems. As a global call to action, it will draw together political support, scientific research and financial muscle to massively scale up restoration. Find out how you can contribute to the UN Decade. Follow #GenerationRestoration.