Intergovernmental consultation on sustainable mountain development in Europe, 1996

In June 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio, which was attended by the largest number of Heads of State and Government who have ever met in the world, has adopted the as Agenda 21 Action Programme for the 21st century. Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 is entitled "Managing fragile ecosystems: sustainable development of mountains."

The Extraordinary General Assembly of the United Nations in June 1997 was dedicated to reviewing the implementation of decisions of the Rio Summit, five years later.

It's in the context of this review has been organized the "1996 Intergovernmental Consultation on Sustainable Mountain Development in Europe", which is part of a series of consultations with a similar function for other continents.

Discussions within the Steering Committee of the Consultation - between IUCN, FAO and ICALPE - and with governments interested in the organization of this consultation were then led to the choice of dates and locations of the two sessions Consultation (Aviemore, United Kingdom, from 22 to 27 April 1996 and Trento, Italy, from 7 to 11 October 1996), which were assigned respectively to the Scottish Office and the Autonomous Province of Trento.

According to international law, the final product of the Consultation is presented as a reference document for non-legally binding. It consists of a set of principles, objectives and recommendations approved jointly by the representatives of participating States.

It is based on European circumstances, looking for European solutions in a global context.