Mountain biodiversity

Mountain areas, although perceived as marginal regions, are extremely important ecosystems, especially as far as biodiversity is concerned. Despite recent increasing attention, however, no ad-hoc global international legally binding instrument has been adopted so far in this field. Their protection and sustainable development is therefore covered indirectly, by international legal instruments and rules relating to the environment, as well as directly, by ad-hoc regional instruments, such as the Alpine and Carpathian Conventions. The present contribution aims at illustrating the legal and institutional framework deriving from these and other international initiatives that may have an impact on the protection and management of mountain biodiversity, highlighting the critical issues and gaps.