Global News

mountains from aboveA new tool gives the most detailed view yet of the world’s mountains – and is as close as your computer or mobile phone. 

Mountains occupy between 12 and 31 percent of the land surface of the globe, are home to diverse populations, ecosystems, and wildlife, and are a key provider of essential resources. But despite their importance, attempts to scientifically define and map mountain regions worldwide have been limited up to now.

The Global Mountain Explorer, launched at the recent GEO WEEK 2017 in Washington DC, is a new, web-based tool that allows users to explore mountain regions in greater detail than ever before. Harnessing the best available data, the tool provides information ranging from global mountain distribution to local topography at a resolution 16 times greater than has been achieved in previous mapping efforts. In doing so, it is hoped that this tool will be of use to a variety of individuals and organizations, from scientists and policymakers to hikers planning their next adventure.

farming and mountainsJoin the PEGASUS team in Vienna for a workshop exploring the potential for provision of public goods by farming and forestry in remote and marginal areas, including mountains

This one day event aims to share and discuss the emerging findings and outputs from the EU-wide PEGASUS project. The workshop will discuss the potential, particularly for collective forms of action by farmers and other rural stakeholders, to increase public goods delivery in remote and marginal areas, including mountains. It will explore what this means for future policy and practice on the ground. The intention is for these discussions to feed into the debate on how national and EU policies, including the Common Agricultural Policy, might evolve post 2020.

The workshop will take place at the Federal Institute for Less-Favoured and Mountainous Areas in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday 30 November from 9:30am to 4:30pm.

firth court sheffield university The University of Sheffield is offering a PhD project on the storage and release of legacy atmospheric pollutants from mountain glaciers

This project will quantify a potentially major unknown global reservoir of organic contaminants in temperate and cold-based glaciers and investigate the impacts of climate change on the quantity and quality of water supplies from glacier-fed catchments. 

Funding Opportunity!The Belmont Forum and BiodivERsA have announced a joint call for research proposals on 'Scenarios of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.'

Twenty-five nations are participating, with a provisional sum of over EUR 25 million having been committed. This collaborative funding effort aims to address the following major (non-exclusive) priorities: 

  • Development and application of scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services across spatial scales of relevance to multiple types of decisions
  • Consideration of multiple dimensions of biodiversity and ecosystem services in biodiversity scenarios

4 - 7 April 2018, Monte Carasso, Switzerland

The 3rd LabEx ITEM International Winter School on 'Innovation and Mountain Territories' seeks to promote young researchers working on mountain territories. It is aimed at doctoral students, post-doctoral and junior researchers, and also at researchers in integration, or MA students planning on doing a PhD.

201710 MRDCall

The journal Mountain Research and Development is looking for papers that contribute to a better understanding of food security - a key concern for sustainable development in mountain areas.

Submissions should present validated insights into development solutions for reducing malnutrition and increasing food security for mountain people; analyze food systems in mountains against the background of global trends and the need for conserving ecosystems; or offer agendas for research or policymaking aimed at increasing the sustainability of food systems in mountains.

23 - 27 October, Washington D.C., United States

GEO Week 2017 will bring together the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) community to promote and explore the role, applications, and opportunities for using earth observations (EO) to deliver Insight for a changing world. With a focus on delivery and impact, this event will explore the use and applications of EO in both the public and private sectors.

Mountain Research and Development, Vol 37, No 3: Mountain Forests and the SDGs

201710 MRD37 3
For this issue, guest editors G. Gratzer and W. Keeton invited researchers to reflect on the role of mountain forests in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Papers cover gender issues in Ethiopian agroforestry, the impact of migration on gender relations in forest user groups in Nepal, the profitability of small-scale mountain farm forestry in Austria, the impact of rubber on the rural economy in China, a throughfall-exclusion experiment in a forest area in Bhutan, and the resilience of mountain forests to disturbance scenarios in India.

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