Sustainable economy: NGO urges FG to Key into mountain development
By Angela Atabo
Mrs Margaret Kikunda, Executive Director of Environment and Tourism Support Initiative, an NGO, has called on the Federal Government to key into mountain development for sustainable economic growth.
Kikunda, who is also the Vice Chairperson of the African Regional Mountain Forum made the call in an interview with newsmen as part of activities to mark the 2018 International Mountain day.
She said that the theme for the 2018 World Mountain Day was “Mountains Matter.”
According to her, the day is observed to create awareness on the importance of mountains to life, highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development.
It would also be used to build alliances that will bring positive change to mountain peoples and environments, she said.
“Mountains provide a wide range of critical and indispensable ecological goods and services for a significant number of people in Africa, both upstream and downstream.
“However, they are among the most disadvantaged regions in the world with some having the highest poverty rates.
“This is because mountainous communities and ecosystems are among those most vulnerable to climate change and land degradation.
“Mountains play crucial roles in providing ecosystem goods and services to their neighbouring communities, hence they are essential for sustainable development.”
Kikunda said that a sustainable mountain development would improve a nation’s economy because of its numerous functions and resources.
She also said that mountains were sensitive indicators of environmental change, stressing that climate change, for example, was seen through retreat of glaciers.
She also said that mountains covered an estimated three million kms of Africa’s surface area storing a vast amount of water in form of glaciers, snow, and ice; as well as in soil, groundwater and lakes, hence, a source of water.
She explained that African Mountains were also sources of clean energy, adding that hydropower was the main source of clean energy in East, West and Southern Africa.
Kikunda said for Africa, a continent highly dependent on traditional energy sources and badly affected by rising oil prices, mountains could significantly contribute to energy security.
This ,she said was because mountains housed many ecosystems, including forests, grasslands, dry lands, rivers and wetlands, with numerous endemic plant species.
She said that mountain ecosystems also played vital role in water purification and water retention in the form of groundwater, ice, and snow as well as in lakes and streams.
She said that mountains were also tourist attractions because of the pristine landscapes, high biological diversity, and unique protected areas which served as important tourist destinations.
She said that these could raise great funds through tourism to boost the nation’s economy.
Kikunda, however, lamented that in spite the importance and contributions of mountains their development remained a challenge.
She said that most mountain areas had the highest poverty rates, less developed with the poorest infrastructure and hard to access.
She said that between 40 and 60 per cent of Africa’s mountain people were vulnerable to food insecurity and were hazard-prone areas.
She advocated that government and interested partners needed to include mountains in applicable of national and local level development with strategic planning processes.
She also called on the government to recognise mountain communities as equal partners in the policy and decision-making processes.
Kikunda said that development partners and governments needed to take advantage of the sensitivity of mountains as indicators of global and environmental change.
She urged the stakeholders to make resources available for research on impacts of environmental change, provide early warning and improve existing data and environmental monitoring networks.
This she further urged should include supporting mountain communities.
