Mountains of East Asia and the Pacific

Abstract

Mountains of East Asia and the Pacific is the proceedings of the East Asia Pacific Mountain Association symposium, held at Lincoln University in May 1993. The symposium was organised by Lincoln University, the International Mountain Society and the East West Centre, Honolulu, with the cooperation and support of the United Nations University, the World Conservation Union. the New Zealand Department of Conservation and the High Country Committee of New Zealand Federated Farmers. Papers were presented on a wide range of mountain issues; from the cultural attachment people have to mountains, to issues of sustainable resource use in mountain areas and to the consequences of physical phenomena in mountainous regions. We have grouped the papers according to the common theme they illustrate. In the three years since the symposium, progress has been made in many areas of mountain research, the management of mountainous areas and in the promotion of the concept of sustainability in mountain environments. In the epilogue, the editors have attempted to discern the common threads in the papers presented at the symposium, considered the progress made since 1993 and discussed what may be the key themes of the future. The East Asia Pacific Mountain Association (EAPMA) was launched in 1993. With the Earth Summit in 1992 came Agenda 21, with Chapter 13 specifically dealing with mountains. A subsequent series of global and regional meetings has resulted in establishment of global, regional and sub-regional mountain networks. Many of the envisaged functions of EAPMA are now provided for by the Asia Pacific Mountain Network (APMN) based at ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development) in Nepal. The Centre for Mountain Studies (CMS) at Lincoln University will coordinate activities as the Australasian/Pacific subregional focal point. With this development, the editors note with pleasure that the activities of EAPMA are subsumed by the APMN, Australasian/Pacific subregion, and the continued operation of the CMS. We hope that readers will enjoy these proceedings and that Mountains of East Asia and the Pacific will continue to promote debate on mountain issues.