83 / 100
83
• Development
and
implementation
of
comprehensive publicity programmes for all
stakeholders to raise awareness of the importance
of mountain areas.
Subsequent interventions could include the
development and operationalization of guidelines
for resource mobilization to facilitate increased
investment in mountain areas, through actions that
may include:
• Carrying out comprehensive reviews of Public
Investment Programmes in order to determine
the proportions of investments that go to
mountainous areas, both directly and indirectly;
• Developing budgetary frameworks for Public
Investment Programmes that endeavour to
disaggregate investments destined for mountain
areas, given the fact that there is a tendency to
allocate more investments to lowland areas; and
• Monitoring approaches at all levels to ensure
that mountainous areas receive due attention in
terms of investment allocations and programme
implementation.
Comprehensive assessment of the impacts
of climate change in mountainous areas,
and the vulnerability and adaptive
capacity of mountain communities
Mountain areas are among the most sensitive and
vulnerable ecosystems to the impacts of climate
change. The impacts of climate change on mountain
ecosystems and communities may have far-reaching
consequences including an increase in the incidence
of disasters such as erosion and landslides, which in
turn adversely affect the welfare of local communities.
In some cases, the scale of these events may be
beyond the resilience and adaptive capacity of the
affected communities. A comprehensive assessment
of such impacts and the abilities of communities
to effectively respond can help develop policy
frameworks and guidelines, as well as determining
the requirements for building the capacity of these
communities to respond.
Proposed intervention areas may initially seek to
assess and determine the extent to which mountain
ecosystems will be affected by climate change, on the
basis of which appropriate mitigation and adaptation
measures can be designed, through actions that
include the following:
• Identification of experts to undertake assessments
including, and where possible, enhancing their
capacity through training;
• Identification of specific areas of study or
assessment covering both ecosystems and
development initiatives;
• Mobilization of resources for studies or
assessments from different potential sources
including the public and private sectors; and
• Application of the results of the study or assessment
to develop a comprehensive mitigation and
adaptation framework in mountain regions.
Secondly, intervention may seek to undertake
a comprehensive study of the vulnerability and
adaptive capacity of mountain communities to the
impacts of climate change through:
• Identifying resource persons to undertake the study
and enhancing their capacity through training;
• Identifying specific representative communities
and activities for the study or assessment covering
a range of social and cultural characteristics,
ecosystems and development initiatives;
Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda