New film highlights mountain communities' climate workshop

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has released a film showcasing an event where mountain communities discussed the impacts of climate change and how to respond using their biocultural heritage.

News, 18 May 2015

In May 2014, representatives from 25 indigenous mountain communities in 10 countries gathered in Bhutan. This 14-minute film provides highlights of the event and presents the Bhutan Declaration on Climate Change and Mountain Indigenous Peoples.

Climate change is already having serious impacts on mountain ecosystems and indigenous peoples. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the magnitude of climate change impacts increases with altitude, and temperatures are rising at disproportionately higher rates at higher altitudes.

The Mountain Communities Initiative Workshop brought together more than 70 mountain farmers from Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Taiwan, Tajikistan and Thailand. It called for the full implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and for support to revitalise indigenous knowledge, languages, crops and farming systems for climate adaptation.

Note: The interviewee captioned "Mr Alexandre" should be Alejandro Argumedo, director of Asociación ANDES.