The objective is to establish an ecological network in the sensitive mountain regions of the Alps and the Carpathians as a contribution to a global network of protected areas as called for in the Biodiversity Convention. The memorandum was signed in the framework of a high-powered side event to the 9th Biodiversity Conference in Bonn/D. The Ecological Network platform of the Alpine Convention played a central role in preparing the agreement between the three convention organisations. With their Ecological Continuum project, which was presented in the course of the side event, the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA), the Alpine Network of Protected Areas, the International Scientific Committee for Alpine Research and the Alpine Programme of the WWF show how ecological networking can be implemented at the local level in the Alps. Information and text of the memorandum: http://www.bmu.de/int_umweltpolitik/weitere (de/en), Ecological Network platform and Ecological Continuum project: http://www.alpine-ecological-network.org (en)