Picking Olives, Mons, Var, France Photo: Prashant Sharma

The mission of European Mountain Forum (EMF) is to promote ideas, processes and best practices on issues related to sustainable development in the mountains of Europe and to raise awareness of the importance of these mountains in Europe. Currently the focus area of EMF is to bridge the different European mountain ranges and massifs based on the principles of subsidiarity with regional and local partners in Europe. To increase the membership base of EMF, the network is committed to transparency, particularly in areas involving its main contractual partners in governance and facilitating the use of different European languages to increase the participation of new mountain stakeholders.

EMF is also the focal point of Mountain Forum to provide European inputs to e-conferences managed by Mountain Forum for the Mountain Partnership.

European Mountain Forum has been undergoing a transitional phase with operations being carried out at minimum capacity while searching for a new hosting institution, after the contractual agreement with IUCN - The World Conservation Union in Switzerland, to host it ended in 2004. EMF has currently identified eligible new host institutions, leading to hopes for finalising arrangements soon.

In June 2004, EMF launched a Mediterranean sub-node in Les Planes de Son (Catalonia, Spain). This commendable initiative is all the more noteworthy in the light of EMF's current transitional process of re-establishing a new coordination centre.

Currently, there are 97 organisational members from 24 countries and 663 individual members from 30 countries who are registered with European Mountain Forum.

Dr. Martin Price, head of the Centre for Mountain Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, represents EMF on the Board of Directors of Mountain Forum.

Click here to visit the European Mountain Forum website.

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