International Mountain Day is an occasion to heighten the awareness about the perils and potentials of tourism in mountain areas amongst a wide audience. While tourism has opened up a number of attractive prospects for many mountain communities (better income, new markets, cultural exchanges, etc.), it also often has a destructive impact on the environment or the existence of the mountain communities, particularly amongst the poorer sections of the population.
Sustainable tourism however strives to meet the needs of both tourists and local communities. International Mountain Day is therefore an occasion to appeal to everyone to guide the trend in tourism towards 'sustainable tourism' to help alleviate poverty in mountain regions. An FAO (Food and Agricultural Organisation) task force is co-ordinating events around the world to mark International Mountain Day, and providing information material.
Source and information: www.fao.org/mnts (fr/en)