21 November 2014: Participants called for addressing climate change and improving the livelihoods of mountain peoples in the Rara Declaration, which was agreed upon at a conference in Rara, Nepal. Participants also agreed to form the Nepalese Civil Society Mountain Initiative (NCSMI), which will, inter alia, advocate for mountain issues in discussions on the post-2015 development agenda and UN meetings on biodiversity, climate change and desertification.

The ‘National Conference on Climate Change and Environmental Threats: Protecting Lives and Livelihoods of Mountain People’ brought together over 200 representatives from government, civil society, local communities and other groups to discuss Nepal’s mountain agenda. The conference aimed to raise awareness on the importance of advocating for mountain issues in negotiations on the post-2015 agenda and processes such as UN conferences on biodiversity, climate change and desertification.

The ‘Rara Declaration on Climate Change and Environmental Threats: Protecting Lives and Livelihoods of Mountain People’ recommends: advocating for compensation mechanisms for the loss caused by climate change, including through increased national and local capacity building, climate funding and technology transfer; establishing a climate change adaptation learning center in Karnali, Nepal to promote long-term research on climate change and collect best practices; and initiating a funding window to boost the production and use of alternative energy resources for mountain specific climate adaptive technologies and practices, pro-poor sustainable tourism and organic agriculture and animal husbandry. The Declaration also proposes a national mechanism to include mountain communities in all development initiatives, from planning to implementation, and recommends the promotion of sustainable tourism, including through the development of a Sustainable Tourism Master Plan and by enhancing infrastructure in Karnali and the northern belt of Nepal.

The NCSMI will be a civil society initiative facilitated by local governments to advocate for and ensure sustainable mountain development. The Initiative will pursue evidence-based advocacy of the mountain agenda at global and regional levels through links with the Mountain Partnership, the Mountain Forum and the Mountain Research Initiative. It will hold biannual sustainable mountain development conferences in Nepal and Asia to promote knowledge sharing and the exchange of experiences.

Nepal’s Ministry of Science Technology and Environment and Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Centre (KIRDARC) organized the conference, which took place from 30-31 October in Rara, Nepal. [Mountain Partnership Press Release] [Rara Declaration]