POTENTIAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITY, IMPACTS AND

ADAPTATION OPTIONS IN AFRICAN MOUNTAINS

A paper presented at the International Conference of Mountain Countries Climate Change in Kathmandu,

Nepal 5-6 April 2012.

BY

FESTUS K. BAGOORA (PHD)

CONTACT: National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) – Uganda, P.O. Box 22255, Kampala Uganda, tel. +256-414-251064/5/8, E-mail: fbagoora@nemaug.org, OR Nature-RIDD Uganda, P.O. Box 26598, Kampala Uganda. TEL. +256-312-514651/414-286842, E-mail: fbagoora@natureridd.co.ug

1.0. Background

1.1 Importance and distribution of on African mountains

• Africa, the second largest continent is a huge landmass, covering about 30 million km2 or 20% of the world's land surface.

• The continent has the third largest population,

approximately about 800 million people by the year 2000.

About 50% of the countries in Africa contain mountains or have steep land environments; while about 10% (3 million km2) of Africa’s surface area is highlands, mountains or steep sloping areas. This is a very significant proportion of continent’s landscape (Figure 1)

The number of people affected by mountain problems is about 20% of Africa’s population or approximately over 160 million, while a further 30% or 240 million people depends on water resources originating in mountain systems.

Where as in Africa, there are no mountain ranges of magnitude comparable to the Himalayas or the Andes, still there is extensive occurrence of mountains highlands all over the continent (Table 1), which are of greatest importance for ecosystems and the future development of many African countries.

Sub-region Mountain countries

North Africa Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia

Eastern Africa Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Madagascar, Rwanda, Burundi,

Central Africa Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Chad.

Southern Africa Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Western Africa Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone

T able 1: The mountain countries of Africa by sub-region

Many different types of mountains exist throughout the African continent but, they can generally be grouped into the following categories.

• Mountain ranges or chains such as the Rift on the Atlas in

North Africa • Mountain massifs with different summits, like the

Rwenzori or the Tibesti • More uniform and mostly solitary volcanic cones, like

Mount Kenya, Mount Elgon or Mt. Cameroon • Smaller mountains such as those found in West Africa

On the basis of altitude, African mountains can be classified into:

Low (1,500-2,800m), Medium (2,800-4,000m) and, High (above 4,000m) mountains. In the UNEP Assessment Report (UNEP, 2012), a

total of 93 mountain peaks have been identified in Africa.

Table 2: The Mountains of Africa (above 4,000m).

Name of Mountain

Nature of Mountain

Height (m) Location Countries

Kilimanjaro Solitary volcano 5.895 Tanzania

Kenya Solitary volcano 5,119 Kenya

Rwenzori block (horst) 5,109 Uganda/DR

Ras Dascian Simen volcanic chain of Mountains

4,620 Ethiopia

Meru Solitary volcano 4,565 Tanzania

Karisimbi Volcanic mountain chain (Mitumba)

4,507 Rwanda

Sante Ye Terara Chaf/Batu

Volcanic mountain chain

4,400 Ethiopia

An extinct solitary Tertiary volcano

4,321 Uganda

Amba Farit Volcanic mountain chain 4,270 Ethiopia

Abune Yosef Volcanic mountain chain 4,260 Ethiopia

Bada Volcanic mountain chain 4,195 Ethiopia

Jebel Toubkal Fold mountain chain (Atlas)

4,167 ,Morocco, Algeria Tunisia

Muhavura/Mgahinga /Sabinio

Volcanic mountain cluster

4,127 Uganda/Rwanda/D.R

Guna Terara Volcanic mountain chain 4,120 Ethiopia

Choke Terara Volcanic mountain chain 4,100 Ethiopia

Ighil M’Goun Volcanic mountain chain 4,071 Morocco

Cameroun Vocanic mountain chain (Adamoua)

4,070 Cameroun

Oldoinyo Lesatima Volcanic Ridge/Carter 4,001 Kenya

1.2. The nature and origin of the mountains

The mountains of Africa can generally be classified into volcanic mountains fold mountains, and block or horst

mountains.

1.2.1 The Volcanic Mountains

• Most of these mountains occurred in association with the rifts that occurred during the Tertiary tectonic movements that provided for fractured rock structures through which magma migrated to the surface.

• Both volcanicity and mountain building occurred during later geological

periods in the Pleistocene. Hence these mountains are of different ages, ranging from extinct, to dormant and still active volcanoes.

• Examples of volcanic mountains include: Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895m),

Mount Kenya (5,194m), both of which are the highest and second highest mountains in Africa, respectively.

• Others include Mount Elgon (4,321m) an extinct Tertiary volcano that lies

astride the border with Kenya; Muhavura-Mgahinga-Sabinio (4,127m) dormant composite volcanic mountain cones that lie astride the border of Uganda Rwanda and DRC; Mount Meru (4,565m) that lie within the vicinity of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and; Mount Cameroon (4,070m) in Central Africa.

1.2.2 The Fold Mountains of Africa • The most important period of folding was in the mid-Tertiary, the same time

the eastern Africa part of the continent was experiencing intense structural instabilities and uplifting.

• The Atlas Mountains are the highest and most extensive fold mountains in

Africa, rising to more than 4,000m, and extend from Morocco through Algeria to Tunisia, a distance of 2,250km.

• The Atlas Mountains portray complex scenery: they exist not as one and

continuous upland, but as a series of SW-NE trending chains which enclose several intermontane plateaus and basins.

• The Cape Ranges located in the extreme south-west of the continent in the

Republic of South Africa represent one of the most complex structure and spectacular scenery, rising between the great escarpment and the Atlantic Ocean.

• The Cape Ranges are a product folding of Palaeozoic rocks during the Triassic

times (180-220 million years ago) and subsequent severe erosion of the folded structure, greatly reducing the height of these mountains, although they still rise to over 2,000m.

1.2.3 Block Mountains or Mountain Horsts

• These mountains are geologically associated with compressional earth movements which occurred over a long geological period of time on the continent, but mainly during the Tertiary period (2-65 million years ago).

• Single most important is the Rwenzori Mountains astride

Uganda-DRC border, where the forces are thought to have been so intense, leading to an up thrust of the central block to great heights of over 5,000m.

• Others, of moderate heights include the Usambara Mountains in

north-eastern Tanzania that rises to only 2,219m; the Danakil Alps in the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia and; Karas Mountains in Namibia.

• The African continent, therefore, is endowed with mountains

ecosystems which are widespread in all the sub-regions, although the ecosystems are most spectacular and widespread in the eastern part of the continent (Table 2).

• The sub-region Eastern Africa forms the most extensive mountains and

highland environments on the continent, with the Ethiopian mountains and highlands forming the most extensive system in the sub-region.

• Facilitated by diverse ecological conditions, Ethiopian mountains are an

important regional centre for biodiversity with the highlands considered as one of the most important crop biodiversity centers (Vavilov centers) in the world. However, this endowment of the genetic resources is now threatened by unsustainable resource management practices and degradation.

• In Sudan, the Jabel Marra mountain region of volcanic origin is found,

specifically in northern Darfur, rising to 3,070 m a.s.l. Rainfall is reported to have declined by 10-15% since the late 1960s. It is a valuable ecosystem, especially for water resource in an otherwise very water scarce environment;

1.3. Overview of the key mountain systems 1.3.1. The mountains of eastern Africa

• In the Kenya highlands, rises the giant Mount Kenya, a Tertiary volcanic

cone with a base diameter of 80-100km and the highest peak of 5,200m a.s.l. It is an ecological island within a semi-arid environment. It provides natural resources such as water and fertile soils for agriculture and forestry for a large population.

• The rivers that flow from the mountain such as Ewaso Ng’iro and Tana, play

an important role in providing perennial flow of water in dry areas up to hundred kilometers distant from the peaks of the mountain.

• Despite the forest conservation land use system in the upper catchments and

aggressive soil and water conservation practices on private land in the middle and lower slopes, the mountain ecosystem is still threatened by the rapidly growing population and increased demand for the mountain resources particularly water, wood products and agricultural land

• In north-eastern Tanzania, Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895m) is a vast volcano

and highest mountain in Africa, rising 4,000m above the surrounding plains. The complexity of the mountain ecosystem and its glacier caps make the mountain a vantage tourist attraction and a destination for mountaineers; but urgently require implementation of sustainable tourism systems.

• Recent assessments indicate that the glaciers of the mountain are receding, although there is still a debate, as to whether or not the receding is due to climate change.

• The middle and lower slopes of the mountain are occupied by the Chaga indigenous people, whose basic livelihood is small scale traditional crop farming. Population pressure on the land resources on the mountain is tremendous and this calls for sustainable farming systems and alternative sources of livelihood.

• The Usambara Mountains in the same region are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains and coastal forests stretching across Tanzania into Kenya, recognized as one of 32 globally important “hot spots” for biodiversity (Messerli and Huni 1990, AEO-2, 2006).

• Located astride the border between DRC and Uganda are the Rwenzori

Mountain ranges, comprising of a huge block mountain of Precambrian rocks (about 100km long and up to 45km wide) lying within the Western Rift Valley system.

• It is the highest non-volcanic mountain in Africa. Mount Ngaliema (Stanley)

is the highest and has Margherita peak the highest point (5,019m).

• Despite their location at the equator crossing, all of its six mountain

peaks are glaciated above 4,200m. The Rwenzori Mountains are highly rugged with extremely steep slopes, making it the most challenging and exciting mountain terrain in Africa, especially for the mountaineers.

• The mountain ranges are so spectacular to always never miss capturing

landscape tourist eyes. It is for this special feature that the National Geographic voted the Rwenzoris a place one must go before he/she dies.

• The vegetation on these Mountains portrays varying altitudinal belts from tropical forests, through alpine grasslands towards to snowline. Like the rest of high mountains in Uganda and rest of Africa, the upper slopes are gazetted conservation area - the Rwenzori National Park.

• The middle and lower slopes are occupied by the indigenous people

(Bakonjo and Bamba) practicing peasant small scale farming based on local crops. Intensive cultivation of the largely shallow to skeletoral soils on the highly fragile slopes using poor methods of farming has led to disastrous accelerated soil erosion and landslides.

• Like in the rest of African mountains, intensive land resource use in Uganda’s mountains has led to problems of land overuse, land shortage, accelerated erosion including catastrophic landslides, and declining land productivity in general which have, in turn, triggered encroachment pressures on the forest reserves.

• A vivid example, in recent memories, is the landslides disaster which occurred on Mount Elgon slopes in Bududa District in early March 2010.

• Triggered by unusually prolonged rainfall on the deforested, intensively settled and cultivated steep slopes of the mountain, massive landslides mixed with mudflows destroyed settlements and farms.

• The landslides disaster led to loss of over 390 people, most of whose bodies were never recovered for descent burial; and hundreds of million shillings worth of property damage.

• Yet another set of landslides disaster occurred on the night of 28-29th

August 2011 in the neighbouring district of Bulambuli on the same mountain slopes; which resulted in a tragic loss of 43 people and hundreds of million shillings worth of property damage.

• To give the Mountain Elgon ecosystem a high level of protection, in 1992 the forest reserve was upgraded into a National Park, which made the conservation system similar to that of the Kenyan side.

• With this new status associated with increased protection, it was

hoped that encroachments would be reduced, but this objective has hardly been realized; largely due to population pressure and misguided political interventions against implementation of existing efficient conservation policies and hence the ecosystem is still highly vulnerable, particularly in view of climate change impacts.

• For over 20 years, Governments of Uganda and Kenya have been

implementing conservation and development projects, focused on provision of alternative source of livelihoods to the communities surrounding the National Park to reduce encroachment pressures and; involving the communities in the management of the ecosystem through piloting collaborative management approaches.

• Recently in 2002, the East African Community (EAC) started on implementation of a cross border ecosystem project known as Mount Elgon Regional Ecosystem Programme (MERECP). Phase one of the programme has ended (in 2011), and formulation of a second one is underway.

• Transboundary ecosystem management approaches are

thought to be more effective, particularly in addressing the new and emerging challenges including climate change.

1.3.2. The mountains of Central Africa • In the Central African sub-region region, Cameroon is the most mountainous

country. The mountain ecosystems of Cameroon, a very humid equatorial climate, constitute the water towers sine-quanon for agricultural production and domestic supply.

• The mountain forests which cover 4,500sq.km (or 1% of the national territory)

are, however, an important source of foreign exchange, especially the commercialized Pygeum and Stophnatus gratus species, which puts the ecosystem at high risk of overexploitation and degradation of the forest ecosystem.

• Tourist attractions are another important feature resource of the mountain,

especially the flora and fauna therein; while the mountain is also rich in agricultural production.

• Conservation systems put in place by Government have remained largely

inadequate; and as a result, forest clearance, bush burning, excessive forest exploitation, poaching, as well as mountain settlements all combine with natural processes such as erosion on steep slopes to pose a serious threat to the mountain ecosystems thereof.

• 1.3.3. The Mountains of Northern Africa • The mountainous region of North Africa is dominated entirely by the

Atlas Mountains, comprising of the first range, the Anti-Atlas; second range, the high Atlas, and the Rift Mountains, all formed at different times over a long geological timespan, beginning from the pre-Cambrian before 590 million years, to the Tertiary period (2-65 million years ago).

• The highest peak in Morocco is Jebel Toukal, rising to an altitude of

4,165m in the High Atlas. • The Rif Mountains have a Mediterranean climate with relatively high

annual rainfall of over 1,000mm, while the Middle and High Atlas mountains also have considerable rainfall of around 1,000mm a year.

• Along the south-eastern slopes of the mountain ranges, towards the

Sahara Desert, aridity becomes predominant and rainfall drops sharply to less than 200mm per year and; although snowfall above 2,000m is regular for about three months per year, there is no actual glaciation in the Atlas mountain range.

• The mountain ecosystems are therefore, highly diverse, from sub-humid to arid conditions and this makes the mountain highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, especially in terms of rainfall and moisture variations and deficits.

• The livelihoods of mountain communities in this area

depend on mountain livestock rearing and crop agriculture based on cereal, vegetable and fruit growing;

• This, in turn, is largely dependent on efficient use of land and water resources, based on innovative blending of indigenous knowledge with modern agricultural technologies, especially mountain irrigation agriculture.

1.3.4. The Mountains of Western Africa • Western Africa is the least mountainous region, and those mountains that exist are

less spectacular or imposing, compared to those in other sub-regions; • They are, nevertheless, vital ecosystems especially as they act as water

catchments for the number of rivers in the region such as Niger, Volta, Gambia and the Senegal rivers.

• Mountains like the Fouta Djallon (1,500m) and Simandou (1,650m) in the

Republic of Guinea and Mount Nimba 1,752m) in Liberia form examples, while the most prominent mountain ranges are the Loma Mountains with Bintumane peak rising to 1,946m, as the highest peak in West Africa.

• Settlers around the mountains practice shifting cultivation and, presently there are

no adequate management plans and practices to fully utilize the endowment of these ecosystems, other than regulation of hunting and; this increases vulnerability of these ecosystems.

• Development and implementation of sustainable management strategies in

including, integrated watershed management, among others, and, proper extraction of non-biological resources such as minerals, will go along way in contributing to climate change adaptation in these low but sensitive mountain ecosystems.

• These mountain environments, apart from their significance in water resources, are characterized by their biological diversity and the high levels of endemic plants and animals.

• The extensive archeological heritage such as rock art presents a

unique cultural heritage and, the status of protection and the accessibility of most mountains in South Africa create great opportunities for tourism and outdoor recreation.

• In Malawi, the natural landscape has several low mountains and

mountain ranges that form important water catchments and habitats for a wide range of flora and fauna.

• Mount Mulanje a massif feature in the south-eastern part of the

country is the largest in the country, and a major catchment acting as a source of water for an estimated population of over 700,000 people; as well as, supplying water to Lake Chinwa that supports fishery, hydro-power generation and irrigated farming.

• Because of this vital function, the mountain was gazzetted as a forest reserve in 1927, leading to government regulating utilization of the mountain forest resources, principally aimed at protection of water source and fauna and flora.

• The communities around the mountain area are dependant on the

mountain for the supply of fuel wood, poles, medicinal plants and other forest products; hence government policy allows free access to non-timber products as an incentive for the people to participate in the management of this vital natural resource;

• This presents the challenge of delicate balance between conservation

and resource exploitation. The mountain area is also, a tourist attraction, although this potential sector has not been developed yet due to lack of access roads through the difficult terrain.

• The south-west of the mountain is considered to be rich in high quality bauxite deposits and; plans are under way to exploit the resource, an action that carries potential risks of degradation in such a highly fragile ecosystem.

• The resources in the mountains are generally experiencing threats from the high population pressure evident in the surroundings, now estimated to be over 185 persons per sq. km.

• The exposure of the fragile escarpment part of the

mountains that led to landslides and floods in the 1990/1991 rainy season can be cited as one of the examples of disaster occurrences triggered by mountain ecosystem mismanagement in the area.

2.0. Potentials and vulnerability of mountains in Africa 2.1. Potentials

• The African mountain features and structures are of high

complexity and diversity; which leads to equally complex and diverse ecosystems, and peoples.

• The diverse forms and process of nature in the mountains,

include climate, soils, flora and fauna, especially as influenced by altitudinal variations on the high mountains e.g., the vegetation communities existing in form of vegetation belts according to altitudinal ranges.

• African mountains have more favourable environmental

conditions and greater resource potential than the surrounding areas, in the tropical and sub-tropical regions.

1.3.5. The Mountains of Southern Africa • The mountains of southern Africa are found in all four provinces of the

Republic of South Africa, and in Lesotho, Namibia and Angola; but in Namibia and Angola the resources provided by the mountains are less dominant, although still significant.

• The mountains in South Africa are particularly significant for their high and

more reliable rainfall of over 1,000mm annually, with some areas receiving 3,000mm.

• This is in contrast to the rest of the areas which receive lower rainfall

amounts, with 65% of the country receiving a mean annual rainfall of less than 500mm, an amount considered to be a minimum for successful rain fed agriculture.

• Most of the mountain ecosystems in the country are protected either as

state forest areas, mountain catchment areas or nature reserves. There are, however, mountainous regions in private or communal holdings, whose protection status may be considered delicate but regulated by laws.

• The complex and diverse relief, structure and processes have made the

mountains very resourceful in various ways including: rich and unique forests, wildlife, biodiversity and minerals and; unique and spectacular landscapes for tourism and recreation.

• The mountain climate influence to temperatures and rainfall promote fertile

and rich agricultural land, and make the mountains most potential water sources, serving as important water towers for the continent.

• Mountains in Africa have, indeed, been described as “islands of high

productivity in a continent where dryness and aridity are increasing at alarming rate. People, therefore, settle in mountain areas, partly because the lowlands are difficult to manage due to poor soils and erratic rainfall patterns.

• As a result, African mountains and highlands possess great potential for

dense populations, intensive land use and brisk socio-economic development activities, thereby emphasizing the importance of these areas for Africa’s development.

2.1.1. Water towers and central points of the hydrological cycle • All the major streams and rivers in Africa have their headwaters in

mountains and highlands, for example: The mighty River Nile has its head waters from the Eastern African Mountains in Ethiopia (the Blue Nile and Atbara rivers).

• The distributaries of the White Nile tributary originate from Rwenzori

Mountains Semuliki river); Mount Elgon, the Kenya highlands and Central African Mountains (Malaba and Trans-Nzoia and the Kagera river systems, respectively), which empty into Lake Victoria, the giant reservoir of the White Nile.

• The head waters of the mighty Congo River rise from Central African

highlands; while the Orange River system the heart of southern African drainage system has its head waters in the Drakensberg Mountains;

• The headwaters of the mighty Zambezi River rise from the Central

African highlands; while the Niger and Volta, Gambia and Senegal Rivers have their head waters from the West African Mountains of Cameroon and the West Guinea Highlands (Figure 1).

• Mountains are critical moderators of climate, principally through enhanced precipitation that they engender due to the uplift and ascent of moist air over them, known as orographic effect.

• Part of this enhanced precipitation falls as snow at higher altitudes, at locations where conditions favour the process of firnification, resulting in glaciers (e.g. Kilimanjaro, Kenya and Rwenzori) and ice sheets (e.g. Ethiopia, Atlas and Drakensburg).

• It is predicted that climate change will impair the forces of weather making and; being key indicators of climate change, mountains are central to predictions future trends and management Africa’s water and other natural resources for sustainable development.

2.1.2. Water supply services Mountains in Africa are the most vital sources of fresh water supplies for domestic use, irrigated agriculture, industry and transport; both within and beyond the mountain regions and national boundaries.

Water falls from the mountains

• The Lesotho Mountains, for example, form southern Africa’s most

important watershed and billions of dollars worth water projects investment have been undertaken based on the water supply from the mountains.

• A key example is the water project which diverts water from the

country’s Senqu/Orange River, via tunnels and dams to South Africa’s industrial heartland (PANOS, 2002).

• Africa’s population grew from 469 million to 798 million between

1980 and 2000, representing 13% of the world population. • By 2,020, Africa’s urban population is projected to be 646 million,

up from 302 million in 2,000, and by 2,030, the proportion of Africa’s urbanized population is expected to reach 53.5% compared to 39% in 2,005 (UNEP AEO-2, 2006),

• As Africa’s population pressure continues to increase dramatically,

so will be the demand on fresh water supplies: domestic water supplies (especially urban areas), industry and irrigation agriculture - already, hundreds of millions are facing chronic shortages in fresh water supplies.

• At the same time, industrialization is being given emphasis to

accelerate development, and the sector rapidly expanding in many African countries.

• Hence, there is general consensus and genuine concern that,

increasing water shortage is a real challenge and; that this is being exacerbated by climate change impacts; which will seriously hamper Africa’s development efforts.

• This may lead to stiff competition for water and development of

major conflicts over water. The African mountains’ central role reliable water source and thus, helping to meet these impending challenges must be acknowledged.

• 2.1.3. Hydroelectric power (H.E.P) generation • Water stored in mountain lakes, reservoirs and rivers is a potential source of

hydroelectric power for an increasingly urbanized and industrialized African world.

• Hence in general, mountain supplied water is widely used to generate

hydroelectricity all over the continent, facilitates industrial processes, and is a critical factor in irrigated agriculture.

• Presently, the countries of Africa use hydroelectric power generated from the

numerous rivers of different sizes all of whose headwater originate from mountains and highlands.

• The major African rivers such as the Congo, the Nile, the Volta, the Niger, the Zambezi and the Orange, have been harnessed for H.E.P, generated at various sites located along the rivers.

• Estimates indicate that many rivers have huge potential for H.E.P generation, exceedingly higher than the current exploitation levels, and numerous sites on medium and smaller rivers, especially high in the mountains, remain untapped.

• The Inga Hydroelectric Facility on the Congo River, for example, could

play an important role in providing power to Central, Northern and Southern Africa, and even, to Southern Europe.

• The current generation capacity of 1,115 MW is proposed for expansion

to 39,000 MW (AEO-2, 2006), which would be huge amounts of power generated, enough to meet extensive export ambition mentioned.

• In some countries like Uganda the potential sites that remain untapped have been surveyed for possible development to meet increasing power deficits as development picks up; and yet, the present level of exploitation of this potential is very low, probably standing at less than 10%.

• The increasing need for electricity to propel development through powering industries and social services, coupled with the need for green economies to control climate change, makes H.E.P crucial, as it is the most potential and climate change compliant source of energy, compared other alternatives available.

• 2.1.4. Water for irrigated agriculture • African mountain sourced rivers and lakes provide great opportunity for

expansion of irrigated agriculture, which still stands very low capacity levels in most countries.

• The Congo River alone covers a catchment area of 3.7 million km2 with a

total annual discharge of 1,269 km3, and with the irrigation potential of countries covered by the river basin estimated at 8,685,000 ha.

• In the Western African sub-region, there are six major internationally

shared river basins, all with headwaters from mountains and highlands, and of which the Niger, Volta and Senegal are the largest.

• The waters of these rivers provide great opportunity for expansion of

irrigated agriculture. The Niger River which is Africa’s second longest river (4,100 km) with a large basin covering 1,471,000km2, has 1,036,000 ha estimated potential irrigable land and out of this, only 136,850 ha (13.2%) is currently under irrigation.

2.1.5. Wildlife, ecosystems and biodiversity (a) Wildlife

• The different slopes, exposures, and vegetation belts of mountains

produce a variety of habitats for a diversity of fauna.

• Among the rare species are the mountain gorillas of the Virungas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Moreover, mountain forests are often the last wild refuge for a wide-range of species, especially top carnivores.

• Wildlife is increasingly valued as a resource for viewing or for shooting

only with cameras, not guns. Wildlife tours in mountains of Africa offer a way in which some monetary value can accrue to mountain people.

• For example, the National des Volcans earns about US $ 1 million in

entrance fees and US $ 2-3 million in other expenditures, making this resource-based activity a major part of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

(b) Ecosystems and Biodiversity • Due to the altitudinal zonation, mountains contain wholesome, rich and

diverse ecosystems, ranging from savanna, forests to alpine; making them very different to surrounding lowland ecosystems and key areas of global biodiversity.

• The vertical dimension of mountains and the rise in elevation produce

altitudinal zones of different climate, soil and terrain, sometimes over very short distances, and different varieties of flora and fauna adapt to each of these environments;

• Mountains are often referred to as ‘islands’ of biodiversity rising above ‘seas’ of lowland landscapes that have been transformed by centuries of human use (PANOS 2002);

• Mountains often harbour many endemic and threatened species, genetic resources, and are nature’s last stronghold for those species that have been extirpated in adjacent lowlands (e.g. Virunga National Park in DRC).

• The mountains of Central Africa in Rwanda and Uganda (Virunga-Mgahinga-Bwindi Impenetrable National Parks) are for instance, the only home of the about 600 remaining world’s mountain gorillas.

• Because of this reason, the tropical and subtropical mountains of Africa have

been found to have the highest number of vascular plants per unit area, making them globally unique with respect to biodiversity at the genetic, species, community and ecosystem levels.

• Research shows that the mountains of East Africa and Cameroon in Central

Africa, for example, are among the world’s most important biodiversity areas. The high biodiversity of these areas is due to extremely steep geoecological gradients or belts, ranging from low elevation warm humid conditions to high elevation cold environments.

• Many tropical mountains, particularly the volcanoes (e.g. mount Cameroon,

Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya) and table mountains (e.g. Ethiopia) are isolated and; the upper vegetation belts, in particular, are sensitive centres of endemism.

• The mountain regions of Africa, therefore, are genetic store houses,

containing many threatened wildlife species and a vast range of plant species, including crops and medicinal plants.

• 2.1.6. Agricultural potential of mountains • Mountain agriculture is broadly defined as covering all land based

activities such as cropping, animal husbandry, horticulture and forestry and; is perceived as an integrated system of natural resource use.

• Where as mountainous areas in Africa are generally perceived as areas where the conditions of human life are difficult, they have been very attractive for human land-use, particularly for agriculture and settlements.

• Mountains stand out as areas with favourable climate and ecological conditions by contrast with surrounding lowlands, which are generally much drier and; hence, their attractions for habitation.

• As a consequence of this attraction, the average population density in all African mountains together, is more than double the density of the lowlands; that is, above 33 persons per km2 as compared to less than 15 persons per km2.

• Mountains of volcanic origin such as Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, Mount Elgon, Ethiopian mountains and Mount Cameroon are known to posses some of the most fertile and productive soils, attracting heavy population densities and high intensities of agricultural practices

• Even in the non-volcanic mountain areas such as Rwenzori

Mountains, where soils may possess low fertility limitations, high and reliable rainfall make them agriculturally productive as long as other limitations, of extreme gradients soil rooting depth are not severe.

2.1.7. Mountain peoples, culture and traditions • Mountain regions often harbour a wealth of human tradition and

protected areas can provide a mechanism whereby the alliance between conservation and local cultures can be strengthened (e.g. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda).

• Mountains act as focal points for those seeking aesthetic and recreational benefits and many cultures have reverence for certain peaks considered ‘sacred’ (e.g. some Rwenzori Mountain peaks and Masaba Peak on Mount Elgon in Uganda, respectively).

• Mountain ranges in many parts of the continent act to form the frontiers

between countries and there is often value in maintaining them as transboundary protected areas or lightly inhabited buffer zones (e.g. Mont Nimba Nature Resrves in Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire, Mout Elgon National Park in Uganda and Kenya).

2.1.8. Mountain attractions and tourism development • African mountains are among the major tourist destinations, mainly due

to the attractive and adventurous landscapes, that provide great opportunities for leisure and recreation services sought by tourists, sacred and spiritual sites for those seeking spiritual renewal, and rich cultures.

• In general terms, tourism is classified among the major industries that are key Africa’s development. Indeed, pilgrimages and sacred sites in mountains frequently draw tourists and trekkers seeking colourful sights, and interesting and spiritual experiences.

• Mountains in general commonly awaken a sense of wonder and

awe that sets them apart as places imbued with evocative power and significance. Many people and societies view the mountains and their peak in this light, often going to them for aesthetic and spiritual inspiration or regarding them as embodiments of important cultural values;

• Climate change impacts threaten the sustainability of these long-

time value services, especially vista and inspirational vantage reduction, through physical landscape changes and destruction, involving changes vegetation landscapes and landscape destruction by extreme modes of accelerated erosion such as landslides.

2.1.9. Minerals in mountain development • The association between mining and mountains is generic; the same

natural forces which have raised mountains have also helped concentrate assemblages of minerals useful to human society.

• Economic minerals such as copper cobalt limestone, gypsum and marble

have been discovered in the mountains which are a key to national development, for example, copper and cobalt mining in the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda.

• It is for this reason that, the world’s great metallogenic zones all related

to past mountain building, whether the mountains are still standing or have long been reduced to lowlands by denudation processes to form the African surface or a generic of this.

• Mining developments, however, have to be undertaken with extra care

due to the high sensitivity of mountain environments. Mineral extraction brings with it the environmental challenges associated with the disposal of large quantities of mine waste – overburden, tailings, and minewater.

• The direct impact of mining may be exaggerated in mountainous

environments by the greater fragility of montane ecosystems consequent upon their more limited biotic composition and their longer recovery times after disturbance.

• The inevitable attraction to economic mineral exploitation for the much

needed development in Africa and; the high magnitude of ecosystems destabilization and erosion associated with mineral extraction, make the mountains highly vulnerable to both environmental and climate change.

• Due to the vertical distribution of different environments and the seasonal

variation in conditions at each level, resources are stratified and require a staggered schedule for their effective exploitation, a practice that will be vital in balancing resources in a climate change environment.

• Nomadic pastoralism, transhumance, and mixed forms of grazing and

farming cultures that include different uses for various altitudes have been prevailing human responses to these conditions in the African mountains, particularly in sub-tropical Africa.

• Furthermore, migrations into the plains historically have been a means of coping with the surplus population which could not be sustained by these various forms of altitudinal conditioned resources and indigenous knowledge aided adaptation.

• Due to more conducive environment in form of reliable healthy and pleasant climate, and rich natural resources such as fertile soils the highlands in the humid tropics have tended to support denser populations than many lowland areas;

• But, this has in the recent several decades led to enormous pressure

on the landscape and degradation of the natural resource base in many places.

• This has occurred to such a degree that people from these originally

favoured highlands are now on the outward migrated either to the urban areas, or to other more fertile rural areas, normally in the lowlands, a situation pertaining in many mountains areas such as in south-western Uganda and Rwanda.

1.2.10. Highlands-lowlands interaction • Highland-lowland interdependence is founded upon a more or less dense

network of routes along which both downhill and uphill movements occur. Transhumance is by far the most important of these migrations from the hills to the plains,

• Mountain dwellers may be hired in the lowlands at harvest time; landless

peasants, unemployed artisans, and casual agricultural workers may decide to seek cash income in the lowlands, be it in the formal or informal economy.

• Thus, in many areas of the continent the relationship between the

mountains and lowlands has been for long characterized by unequal terms of development opportunities and priorities, and by enhanced dependence of the mountains on the market in the lowland.

• The new concepts of sustainable development in the mountains, therefore,

must necessarily be evolved – with the interest of mountain communities and their environment as the prime perspective.

• An extra level of exploitation in some cases may involve movement of

cheap human resources from the mountains to work in the lowlands when the latter need them, which is quickly facilitated by the new and improved transportation systems.

• Today, for example, the phenomenon of transhumance is even more

complex than in the past, and involves many factors, physical, human and historical.

• Due to this apparently indispensable value of upland-lowland

interactions, in all the African countries especially mountain countries, most people can be defined mountain people, whether resident in the mountains or lowlands.

• All over Africa, growth and development of towns and cities have some

linkage to the products and interactions with the mountains, particularly those located at or near the foothills of the mountains. Strengthening this further may assist in adaptation to mountain climate change impacts.

2.2. Sensitivity and vulnerability • The term vulnerability can be defined ‘the degree to which a natural

system is susceptible to or unable to cope with the effects of external stimuli’ and is a function of: (i) the characteristics and magnitude of the stimuli to which the system is exposed; (ii) the sensitivity of the system and; (iii) the adaptive capacity of the system.

• In this definition the human-environment system is the vulnerable entity.

In other words, vulnerability underpins the susceptibility of populations, resources, and places to harm associated with environmental change and the inability to adapt to changes. Thus vulnerability can be viewed as:

Vulnerability = exposure to risk + inability to cope. • Vulnerability then is the likelihood or probability of harm to the system,

in this case, climate change, resulting, for example, in declining quality of life or loss of lives as a result of change. This likelihood is determined by the likelihood of potential impacts and the system’s adaptive capacity.

• Despite mountains’ great resource potential for development, the nature of terrain poses difficulties, particularly for land transport and communications, and soil erosion and landslides disasters control on steep slopes; whenever there is human occupation and slopes opened up for agriculture, settlements and development infrastructure.

• African mountains are particularly sensitive indicators of climate change and are

ideal settings for research on the impact of global climate change on species, ecosystems and hydrology (e.g. Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda and DRC).

• At the same time Africa faces the challenge of the increasingly less reliability and predictability of water supplies from these mountains, as a result of changing land-use patterns, diversion systems, dams and climate change.

• Mountains have immense downstream values in terms of soil erosion control and

watershed protection, which when tampered with can lead to disastrous consequences. Nature reserves are a useful measure in establishing upland resource use (e.g. Kasungu National Park in Malaawi). Climate change process could change or impair these values.

• Mountains are fragile high energy environments where regulatory controls over

potentially disturbing human activities are often needed (e.g. Simien and Bale Mountains National Park in Ethiopia).

3.0. Climate change Impacts and Adaptation in African mountains

3.1. Climate change impacts

3.1.1. High population densities and resources overuse • One of the greatest challenges of managing climate change

impacts, include the apparently strong overlap between environmental degradation and climate change, which are already showing signs of mutual re-enforcement.

• The combination of increasing human and livestock population,

mismanagement of natural resources and centuries of human occupation and intensive agriculture based on low-technology have caused devastation to the once conducive productive potential of the mountain environments.

• The mountains areas that are agriculturally rich contain some of the

world’s highest rural population densities: for example the Virunga volcano region of Rwanda has a population density of 400 people per km2, while in southern Ethiopian mountains and Mount Elgon slopes population densities reach 1,300 people per km2.

• This presents a major challenge, of balancing resource use capacity and

population demands; because such densities have put tremendous pressure on natural resources.

• Mountain resources overuse has put the resources under stress and made them more vulnerable to climate change. Therefore, it is increasingly becoming clear that the magnitudes of climate change impacts are being greatly magnified by the poor healthy conditions of the ecosystems due to population pressure, overuse and degradation.

• This factor is largely responsible for the increasing ecosystem degradation, resource use conflicts and out-migration in the mountain regions and vulnerability to climate change impacts - the ills hamper resource productivity and sustainable development efforts.

Plate 1: A completely cultivated hillside in Kabale District, in the mountains of South-Western Uganda, using contour-bunding and terracing to control soil erosion (Source : NEMA 2008).

• There is overwhelming evidence and general agreement that, the

world is faced with the climate change whose associated impacts are likely to be widely varied and far reaching.

• Predicted impacts are likely to be far more challenging in mountain regions than in the surrounding lowlands; but detailed predictions of future mountain climates remain difficult due to the complexity of mountain regions and insufficient long-term data.

• Climate change will have significant implications for African mountain environments, mountain societies, as well as populations living downstream. Predicted higher temperatures may increase agriculture and forestry production;

• On the negative side, weeds, pests and diseases may prosper and fires may increase; while species already confined to the tops of mountains or below impassible barriers could be exterminated as they are ecologically squeezed out of their habitat.

• The recent incidence of unfamiliar crop diseases such as banana wilt in Uganda, are causing stress and panic in food security and development efforts in the region.

• Recent temperature trends in some mountains African mountains indicate an increase of over 30C, followed by malaria fever outbreaks which never existed in these areas, leading outbreak of highly fatal malaria fever and other diseases and; dramatic increase in mortality rates and medical costs.

• Mountain ecosystems can be especially vulnerable to disruption by

climate change. Although they contain very diverse species of plant and wildlife, within a single zone biodiversity may be small, and the potential to recover quite limited due to the harsh and marginal conditions.

• There are already indicators of disruption to species distribution, for example, in the Rwenzori Mountains, where climate change is making some species shift to higher altitudes than ever before, and some indigenous non-invasive species evidently becoming invasive, which is a worry for conservation managers.

• The most dramatic impacts of climate change predicted in mountain regions will be an increase in the frequency of extreme events such as floods, avalanches and landslides, and the potential reduction in fresh water supplies.

• Mountains are very important as early warning systems of global

warming, with increased melting (and shrinking) of glaciers on mountains like Rwenzori and Kilimanjaro, already flagging up eminent global warming and climate change.

• Implications of this phenomenon are far reaching; for example,

while the melting glaciers might provide greater water flow in the short term, in the long term it will have the opposite effect.

• As a result, fears are rife, that climate change in African

Mountains will reduce rainfall and hence reduced water yield from mountains (rainfall and flow in streams) which, in turn, will adversely affect water supply and sanitation.

• Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is reported to have already lost more than a third of its ice fields during the last two to three decades. Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s tallest mountain. Also, it is Tanzania’s top visitor attraction with some 20,000 tourists a year.

• The melting of the ice fields will not only affect the tourism industry

but also, the drinking water supply, agriculture and hydroelectric power production.

• Over one million villagers live at the foothills of the mountain and

depend on the mountain springs and streams; for drinking water and other domestic uses and, for irrigation of farms. Severe soil erosion from extreme rainfall on deforested slopes and over-cultivated farmland, will increasing cause heavy silting of the mountain streams and rivers.

• This is already causing numerous problems including reduction in water quality and increased water treatment costs, and increased floods hazards due to siltation of river channels and reduction of channel water storage capacity (Plates 2 and 3).

Plate 2: The brown colour of River Ngenge in Kapchorwa district is a sign of siltation (Source: NEMA 2008).

• There are other threats of significance including deforestation and farming activities, which are not only causing soil erosion but also contribute to the build up of green house gases in the atmosphere.

Box 10.2: Costs of water pollution

Plate 3: Mount Elgon originating River Mnafwa - Site near the National Water and Sewerage Corporation water treatment works (Source: NEMA 2008).

Note: the heavily silted river water due to severe degradation on the Elgon mountain slopes due severe erosion following extreme and prolonged rainfall, which some opinions attributed to climate change.

• Bush fires are another problem, which have similar negative effects. In the mountains, bush fires are used by farmers to clear land and, by honey collectors and hunters. As a result estimated tens of thousands of hectares of forest have been lost to these ill-fated activities.

• Recent occurrence of catastrophic bush fires in the Rwenzori

Mountains was caused by unusually prolonged dry season in the Mountains, considered to be the driest over nearly half century.

• The fires caused devastation to the ecosystems including direct burning of sensitive, unique and endemic plant species, and smoke suffocation of animal species (Plate 4)

Plate 4a: Affected sites in the burnt areas, Ground vegetation (Tussocks), and tress (Source: Uganda Wildlife Authority 2012).

Plate 4b: Duiker suffocated with smoke (Source: Uganda Wildlife Authority 2012).

Fire fighting in the mountains (Source: Uganda Wildlife Authority 2012). Other impacts in the high mountains include: shifting upwards of vegetation zones, damaging of tourism infrastructure including trails and camping sites, particularly by landslides and floods and; the corresponding increase in maintenance costs.

3.2. Climate change Adaptation: options and practices • Where as there is general lack of climate change risk

management plans in most mountain regions of Africa, there are many options available for risk management and adaptation, which require only modest refinement to adapt to local conditions and increase efficiency.

• Many of these are traditional or cultural and have been evolving over centuries, in the course of adapting to the natural challenges of the mountain environments.

• The technologies and practices include, among others, harnessing local energy and other local resources, land management technologies and practices, diversification of cropping systems and sources of livelihood and; predictions of bad weather and other environmental hazards and disasters.

3.2.1 Harnessing rivers and streams for power production • Use of flowing water to generate power for local use in mountain

areas is as old as mankind. Water wheels have been used for centuries mainly for mailing grain. The eminence of climate change impacts requires evaluation of these technologies for promotion, especially with regard to resilience and efficiency.

• There are different technologies available, ranging from the large

hydro-power stations with a capacity of several hundreds of megawatts that supply the plains with electricity, to directly used, decentralised small-scale applications which range from a few kilowatts up to tens of kilowatts (Messerli and Ives, 1997).

• This indicates great potential for increased irrigated agricultural

production in these countries. However, Sustainability of this potential will, however, entirely depend on conservation and land management systems and practices in the major water catchments of the river, the mountains and highlands.

• In the Atlas Mountains, the farming communities use indigenous irrigation technologies on vibrant small-scale farms dominated by fruits and vegetables which are sold to the urbanized population markets in the lowland, and some exported to Europe.

• Therefore in this mountain region, ingenuous management of water

resources in the otherwise relatively dry mountains has enabled productive agricultural system based on a variety of crops including fruits and vegetables.

• On most of the mountain slopes of Africa, and especially high

mountains, the uppermost parts have been designated conservation areas, and are particularly protected as water catchments. The gives higher resilience capacity, given that a healthy ecosystem is best placed to absorb the shocks and impacts of climate change.

• In the Atlas Mountains, the farming communities use indigenous irrigation technologies on vibrant small-scale farms dominated by fruits and vegetables which are sold to the urbanized population markets in the lowland, and some exported to Europe.

• Therefore in this mountain region, ingenuous management of water

resources in the otherwise relatively dry mountains has enabled productive agricultural system based on a variety of crops including fruits and vegetables.

• On most of the mountain slopes of Africa, and especially high mountains, the uppermost parts have been designated conservation areas, and are particularly protected as water catchments. The gives higher resilience capacity, given that a healthy ecosystem is best placed to absorb the shocks and impacts of climate change.

• Increased adoption of sedentary livestock farming, including zero grazing; and, the production of biogas and animal manure from the animal waste, helps to reduce both the GHG (methane) emissions and energy demand pressures on forestry resources; while at the same time increases soil productivity through supply of animal manure.

• Soil and water conservation practices such as terracing, agro

forestry and general planting and conservation of tree cover, are both mitigation and adaptation strategies to climate change in the naturally fragile mountain regions.

• Production of compost manure from both, domestic waste and farm residue, help to reduce GHGs while at the same time improving soil stability and productivity, in turn, increasing yield per unit area; and reduction in more encroachment on fragile slopes and soil erosion (Plate 5).

Using household waste to make compost. Photo credit: Elizabeth Mutayanjulwa

• Mountain farming techniques have been refined over time, based on local people’s in-depth knowledge of the variations of climate and terrain, and using methods and practices.

• For example, contour-bunding and terracing of steep slopes in the

Central African Mountains of Rwanda and Kigezi region south-western Uganda (Plate 1) and; in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.

• Other examples include migratory grazing, especially in mountains surrounded by semi-arid lowlands or areas that experience winters and summers such as in the South African and North African mountains; irrigation; shifting cultivation and; sustainable harvesting, processing and storage of food, fodder and fuels from mountain forests.

• The relative geographic isolation and precarious conditions of production means most mountain communities have engaged in both crop agriculture and pastoral activities, thereby taking advantage of different altitudinal zones.

• Livestock play a vital role in the livelihoods and economies of many mountain areas of Africa, including: providing high energy foods (meat and dairy products); animal power (for transport and plough); organic fertilizer (animal manure) and; materials (hides/skins and fur).

• Transhumance, the seasonal movement of people and livestock between different

pastures, is common in semi-nomadic mountain communities in Africa such as the Tibestan. Movement may also involve trade or some form of exchange of products.

• These movements can involve large distances and contribute to development both

within and outside the mountains mainly through the interactions. • Through centuries of occupation, local communities in mountain regions have

evolved and applied best natural and socio-cultural resources management technologies and practices that are well or better adapted to harsh mountain conditions and challenges.

• However, these were recently integrated into the so called modern technologies and

practices introduced from outside, normally by government sectoral institutions.

Some specific examples of technologies and practices • Terracing, for example, the Konso terracing practiced in Ethiopia; fanya juu

terracing in Machakos, Kenya; and contour-bunding and terracing in Tigray in Ethiopian highlands and Kigezi region in south-western Uganda.

• Terracing steep slopes in order to use marginal land without substantially degrading it; terracing catchment areas of small dams that serve a village without jeopardising water use of downstream users (e.g. in Eritrea);

• Agro-forestry (both indigenous and modern), intercropping and post harvest management. Agroforesty has been used for conservation, soil fertility and soil and water conservation in general, provision of shade to crops like coffee (e.g. in Mount Elgon, Uganda), and provision of miscellaneous other services such as timber, fuelwood, building materials, fodder, and windbreaks.

• Mixed farming systems, intercropping and post harvest management, which have been practiced to promote: diversified farm income; land husbandry and maximum productivity per unit area; soil erosion control and nutrient management; improvement of food security, marketing opportunities and; enhancement of household, regional and national incomes.

• Transhumance, which is still widely practiced in some mountain

regions and in others on the downward trend, is a good example of efficient spatial use of land resources practiced by mountain people, and is dictated by altitudinal and climate or seasonal changes and variations.

• Construction of furrows and irrigation channels, in order to

manage and distribute water for crop production and domestic use; for example, the Tuareg community in the Atlas Mountains in North Africa;

• Local and regional marketing of agricultural products, which is

happening in the production systems in many mountain areas encouraged by potential markets in the surrounding lowlands.

• This opens up development opportunities to the largely isolated and

marginalized mountain economies and removes overdependence on subsistence production and local markets that are more prone to impacts of climate change.

• Planting of drought resistant food crops and cash crops, for more food security and for accumulating some cash such for bad times likely to be triggered by climate change.

• Shifting from range grazing to stall-fed cattle (zero grazing),

where grazing land is scarce or where the land tenure systems favour dairying and mixed farming, for example, what is happening in most mountains of East and Central Africa, including, among others, Mount Elgon in Eastern Uganda, in Kigezi highland in south-western Uganda, and in Rwanda.

• Electrification of mountain areas: to promote crafts and small industries for landless people (mainly young men and women) through diversifying the production base of an area from farming alone by developing labour-intensive manufacturing and handicrafts, cottage industries.

Crop and livelihood diversification • Mountain farmers cultivate a range of crops, some of which are

appropriate for specific elevations and climates, thereby spreading the risk of any single crop failure, which may increase with climate change.

• Furthermore, domestication of wild plants and cross-fertilisation between wild and domestic varieties of crops is often encouraged and has been practiced for centuries.

• Employing these strategies encourages new characteristics to emerge while strengthening a species genetic diversity and resilience; and in some cases improves yields and minimizes the need for chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

• This serves the purpose of absorbing both surplus peasant labour and produce, and the livestock herders to cope with the ‘too many people doing the same thing’ syndrome.

• Diversification of production and income is a strategic form of adaptation to climate change. This practice is just beginning to take place in some African mountain regions, like is the case in Uganda.

• These sound and innovative land management practices have, not only promoted conservation of the basic natural resource in a very fragile environment, but have also, promoted development and increased the land carrying capacity of population.

• Examples include Gedo District in Southern Ethiopia, and both the Mount Elgon slopes and the Kigezi mountain in Uganda, where high population densities, of up to 1,300 people per sq. km. are to be found.

3.2.3. Restoration of degraded forests and other ecosystems

• Many mountain areas have been subject to heavy population pressures, which have resulted in inappropriate vegetation cover clearing and associated land degradation and drainage of wetlands. However, efforts have been made to restore the forest cover and other ecosystems, driven by two forces:

• First, is the desire to restore on-site productivity for the benefit of local communities and; second, is the perception that restored forests will provide downstream benefits of improved stream flow and reduced sedimentation.

• Already benefits are being realized through decreasing erosion and restoring nutrient cycles through re-establishment of a fully functional ecosystem.

• However, large-scale reduction of downstream flooding and river sedimentation as a result of reforestation of small mountain watersheds is less likely, and the limited efforts that have been undertaken confirm this conclusion.

3.2.4. Mountain hazards and Human disasters prediction and management

• Mountain hazards and disasters are mainly caused by the high rainfall

climate and the fragility of the mountain environment - rugged and steep slopes, largely covered by unconsolidated earth materials, which are prone to soil erosion, and landslides and related phenomena.

• Steep mountain slopes promote rapid movement of rocks and soil as well

as the large amounts of water and snow which fall in the mountain areas, causing avalanches, floods and landslides.

• Mountain environments today face an escalation of these risks from the

increase in lowland and highland populations increased pressure on land: settlements, infrastructure, and the intensification of agricultural land-use and natural resources extraction, often using inappropriate methods.

• Due to the steepness of mountain slopes, fast water movement is able to

collect and carry large particles with immense erosive power, causing sudden and irreversible loss of mountain soils.

• The natural factor of intense rainfall that contribute to the soil movement aggravated by human factors such as deforestation, overgrazing, extension of agriculture onto steep slopes, open-cast mining and quarrying, and construction of roads and settlements, without regard for environmental and geological factors.

• A recent example, are the mountain regions of Uganda and

especially Mt. Elgon slopes, which in 2010 experienced severe and extensive landslides on the steep slopes, and flooding in the mountain valleys and surrounding lowlands.

• The main trigger is thought to have been deforestation,

intensification of farming steep slopes and climate change in form of unusually heavy and prolonged rainfall.

Plate 6: Landslides leave ugly scars on the ground and lead to soil erosion, loss of infrastructure and human lives. A ground photo and satellite image (March 2003) of a landslide scar in Bulucheke, Bududa District on Mount Elgon slopes in Uganda. Satellite image from Google maps; Photo credit: Goretti Kitutu.

3.2.5. Adaptation through Green Economy Development • The “Green Economy” can be simply defined as a way of doing business, in a

way that provides for people’s needs and takes advantage of new technologies and climate friendly innovations.

• Given the resource potentials in mountains regions and their role in development;

and the predicted future investment opportunities in these regions, and given the merging challenges of climate change, adoption of green economy development approaches in the regions becomes a high value option.

• Green economy development in the mountain regions has multiple dimensions

including: adoption and use of low carbon renewable energy (mini-hydro electric power, solar energy wind energy); practicing climate smart agriculture and; use of constructed wetlands for waste water and sewage treatment.

• The move for green economy development in mountain regions is already gaining momentum and; the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in collaboration with UNEP, has in the past (in Kathmandu, 5-7th September 2011), organized the “International Conference on Green Economy and Sustainable Mountain Development.

• The Kathmandu Conference identified certain priority principles

and actions for harnessing the green economy framework, to improve the lives of mountain people and, to conserve mountain ecosystems to promote sustainable development.

• The development of a policy framework and global, regional,

national and local mechanisms to compensate and reward mountain communities for the services they provide.

• Establishment of favourable conditions for improving markets for mountain ecosystem goods and services (ICIMOD, 2011).

• To encourage adoption of green economy (or more environmentally

friendly) approaches, technologies and practices; to best adapt to impacts of climate change, improve production efficiency and contribute to global efforts in climate change mitigation.

(a) The Energy sector: The greatest opportunity in the African mountain

regions for green economy development is the energy sector, especially involving harnessing and distribution of the high reserve potential of hydroelectric power, to drive economies in the mountains and beyond.

• In isolated mountain regions, mini-hydroelectric power generation from several

megawatts to tens of megawatts is a most feasible development option. • Large hydroelectric power projects utilizing water flowing from the mountains,

and involving hundreds to thousands of megawatts capacity, are also possible and; this indicates the potential of mountain regions for driving green economic development in Africa, well adapted to climate change.

• The great energy potential of the mountain streams and rivers in Africa has not

yet fully assessed, and only a very minute proportion of this potential in known to have been harnessed.

• Due to location within the tropics and sub-tropics, the mountain regions of

Africa also have great potential for solar power produced from radiation captured by photovoltaic PV, and wind generated energy.

• The wind energy, however, may face some limitations due to the rugged nature of terrain that reduces wind fetch and hence its energy, but is still another option whose viability real but still needs evaluation.

• Other solar-based green technologies too, provide great options as

alternative energy source; which technologies help to reduce fuel wood use for cooking and heating, which reduces indoor pollution, a major domestic-based environmental health problem in rural mountain communities.

• In particular, these technologies are appropriate for mountain areas due to their being relatively easy to use and maintain. Some of these technologies include solar cookers, solar driers, solar lamps and solar water purification systems and; the same is true for use of biogas, mainly for cooking and to some extent lighting.

• The technologies have been introduced in many mountain areas of Africa (e.g., Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia), but the adoption rate is still low, mainly due to limited demonstrations to popularize the technologies, and the problem of affordability.

(b) Transport sector: Use of simple low carbon transport systems such as bicycles, is another green economy technology; However, bicycle use in mountains remains faced with the major challenge of dominantly rugged and steep landscapes and; as a result motorized transport remain important.

• However, popularization of the animal of burden transport systems, such

as use of donkeys in the Mount Elgon region, Uganda, could provide partial solution and; is already in use in many mountain areas.

• The systems are quite innovative, simple and low carbon in nature and; in

addition, the systems have provided relief to women who often carry on their head or back food, fuelwood and other products for long distances on the mountain slopes, to their homes or local markets using.

• It is important to note that the valuable contributions of mountains to green economies beyond the mountains regions themselves cannot be underestimated, especially in terms of generation of clean and nearly all carbon-free hydroelectric power to support industries and a host of other social and economic activities.

Thank You!