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Governance of East Africa’s mountainous areas
covers not only the five countries of the East African
Community (EAC), but also other countries in
East, Central and Southern Africa, which share
transboundary ecosystems with East Africa. In
order to effectively address the challenges of climate
change in the mountainous areas of East Africa,
policy coordination between countries and regional
economic communities neighbouringEAC is required.
Policies and institutional arrangements, as well as
specific mountain region programmes, implemented
in East Africa to address sustainable natural
resources management, community livelihoods
and development in a changing climate, have the
potential to facilitate societal and environmental
resilience. The formulation and implementation of
such policies and actions take place at different levels
including subnational, national and transnational.
At the continental level, the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Action Plan for the
Environment Initiative, which was developed and is
being implemented as an AMCEN initiative, is key in
addressing Africa’s mountain policy agenda.
Africa’s rich indigenous knowledge and practices
in mountain resources management are also key to
policy formulation. Such knowledge and practices
have evolved over a long period of time and sustained
resources and livelihoods. While some of these
practices may no longer effectively address the current
challenges, many are still effective and suited to the
local environment and therefore need to be identified
and enhanced for replication and up-scaling in order
to ensure sustainable development and community
resilience to the changing climate of East Africa.
Introduction
Young mountain gorilla, DRC