From the
Coordinator's Desk...
The First Meeting of the Coordinators
of the Asia Pacific Mountain Network in Kathmandu ended
with a number of important achievements. One theme that
kept surfacing throughout the Meeting was the critical
role of better communications. An overall ignorance about
mountain areas in the respective regions appeared to be
a common phenomenon and the main reason for this, in the
past, was just plain neglect of mountain people by national
governments, policy-makers, and professionals.
It was agreed that a better understanding
of mountain people and their interaction with the environment
was needed and knowledge should be shared among all the
stakeholders. However, apart from the limited information
about mountain areas, there were serious barriers to improving
communications. Rugged terrain, isolation, and language
barriers appeared to be fairly formidable hurdles. The
problems encountered and the responses of different mountain
people highlighted both common features as well as a number
of unique aspects.
The Meeting also spent considerable time
discussing the overall structure of the Asia Pacific Mountain
Network and the nature of its long- and short-term activities.
The structure was seen to be still evolving and the need
for flexibility, openness, and a very active role of the
Secretariat was emphasised. Strengthening the existing
focal points was preferred to further expansion. The types
of activities of the different focal points and the regional
secretariat envisaged for the next few years focussed
on awareness raising, subregional exchange visits, electronic
conferences, preparation of mountain research directories,
and other special publications as well as meetings about
specific priority areas.
This present bulletin has attempted to
focus on the contributions made by different groups at
the meeting. Let me also take this opportunity to introduce
the new APMN Coordinator, Mr. Shahid Akhtar, Head of Documentation,
Information, and Training at ICIMOD. It has been a pleasure
working for the APMN and I hope you will extend the same
cooperation to Mr. Shahid Akhtar as you did to me.
- Dr. Mahesh Banskota, APMN Coordinator,
ICIMOD
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