Mountain Governance

Governing mountain regions poses challenges related to biogeographic and climatic variability, presence of valuable natural resources, vulnerability to degradation, and high cultural diversity. Extreme topographic complexity has historically constrained movement and communication, allowing for many mountain communities to develop strong local governance arrangements. Simultaneously, mountains have long attracted outsiders aiming to control mountain peoples and their natural resources. Drawing on comparative studies of mountain governance and case studies from around the world, this chapter provides an overview of the complications of mountain governance, the various models that have been used, and current issues. Historical research indicates that over the past century, centralization and top-down policies imposed by many nation-states have profoundly transformed community-based mountain governance and resource use. These changes have been associated with infrastructure development, tourism growth, expanding in- and out-migration, and impacts from globalization and extractive markets. These processes have had mixed outcomes for mountain peoples, stakeholders, and their socio-ecological environments. In certain cases, competition over access, extraction, and use of mountain resources has resulted in degradation. Struggles have arisen among competing interest groups, including those who aim to conserve mountain biocultural diversity, those who want to commodify mountain resources for profit, and others aiming for a compromise such as sustainable development. The social-political-economic conundrums of mountain governance have been exacerbated by climate change. Melting glaciers, extreme weather events, and increased disaster risk have come to characterize high altitude life. Governance experiments are underway, but the diversity of local conditions means that no single solution will work everywhere, although similar principles may emerge within certain parameters. This analysis considers that finding solutions for mountain governance challenges would be advanced by inclusion of diverse mountain peoples who are often excluded from decision-making, integration of place-based knowledge with western science, and participatory design of governance approaches to fit local circumstances rather than imposing a general model. Possible options and combinations include bottom-up, top-down, and collaborative cross-scale partnerships.