Priorities for sustainable mountain development in Europe

The concept of sustainable mountain development (SMD) was first used in Chapter 13 of Agenda 21. This chapter marked the first time that mountains were recognised as a global priority, and led to a number of meetings on the topic of SMD, each of which produced a long list of priorities. The definition of SMD, and identification of indicators to evaluate success in achieving its objectives, are discussed. In order to move towards prioritisation of the concept in Europe, a questionnaire was sent to 249 respondents in 30 European countries asking for their perceptions of the importance of 36 variables linked to SMD, and of the performance of policies relating to each of these variables. The response rate was 47%. The results were analysed using importance-performance analysis, first for all respondents, and then comparing (1) respondents in Western vs. Central/Eastern Europe and (2) government vs. research/NGO respondents. The analyses show that environmental variables are generally perceived as more important than socio-political or economic variables, and that there are important differences both between different parts of Europe and between types of respondent. Such findings must be considered when defining policies for SMD at European and national scales.