Mountains: Sustaining Ecosystems from Alpines to Tropical Forests

Mountains sustains life far beyond physical boundaries, providing essential water resources, supporting diverse forests, and regulating climate. Mountains are the source of major rivers like the Ganges and Amazon, respectively benefiting agriculture, hydropower, and drinking water for billions. Mountains provide habitat alpine, temperate and subtropical forests, and even influence tropical forests by regulating temperatures and rainfall. Glaciers, lakes, and waterfalls in mountains store and release freshwater, nourishing downstream ecosystems. Mountain regions, rich in biodiversity, are home to the world’s biodiversity hotspots, including the Himalayas and the Tropical Andes. Mountain communities are key to sustainable development, managing natural resources. Through Traditional Ecological Knowledge as a Nature-based Solution, including the practice of agroforestry and conservation agriculture, these communities help maintain ecosystem health. Mountain communities also contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation through carbon sequestration, land restoration, and promoting resilient livelihoods, supporting SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). However, there is a lack of research on inter-ecosystem dynamics, especially how mountain ecosystems interact with lowland regions. The knowledge gap limits our understanding of how changes in mountains affect downstream ecosystems. The side event will explore mountain’s crucial role in sustaining ecosystems, the contributions of mountain communities to global sustainability, and the need for landscape level interdisciplinary research to bet