Final untamed areas of the Earth are disappearing

An unprecedented period of environmental degradation is threatening the survival of the world's mountain regions, according to a United Nations report published yesterday.

Wildlife in some of the most remote and beautiful regions on Earth is suffering from a sustained environmental assault by everything from guerrilla warfare to global warming.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report warns that time is running out for some of the planet's most fragile ecosystems.

In the UNEP's first worldwide assessment of the impact on mountains caused by natural disasters and human activities, scientists from its World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge have identified seven primary threats to mountain regions: natural hazards, fire, climate change, the growth of roads and other infrastructures, violent human conflict, deforestation and agricultural intensification.

Mark Collins, the director of the centre, said the report overlaid maps of affected areas with data on threatened species to identify the priorities for mountain conservation.

"The result was stunning. We could clearly see which areas are suffering most due to a combination of pressures or impacts. So for the first time we have a global snapshot of the threats and vulnerability of different mountain regions," Dr Collins said.

From Mount Olympus in Greece to Mount Fuji in Japan, mountains have played a critical role in cultural tradition and have been a source of wonder and inspiration to generations of people throughout the world, according to Klaus Toepfer, executive director of UNEP.

"Our reverence for these unique wilderness areas has been partly based on their remoteness, their inaccessibility. But this new report highlights how, like so many parts of the world, some of these last wild areas are fast disappearing," Mr Toepfer said.

UNEP scientists estimate that almost half of Africa's mountain regions are under the plough or the hoof, with about 10 per cent of mountain areas converted to cropland and 34 per cent used for grazing.

The great mountainous tracts of Asia and South America are going the same way. Only the mountains of North and Central America are approaching a pristine state, with just 14 per cent of the land here given over to either grazing or crops. "These losses are not just regrettable but threaten the health and well-being of us all. Mountains are the water towers of the world, from which the world's mighty rivers spring," Mr Toepfer said.

The report, called Mountain Watch, shows that some 41 per cent of mountain land has been subjected to "high intensity human conflict" between 1946 and 2001. This compares with 26 per cent of non-mountain land.

Global warming is also threatening many high-altitude regions, such as the Monteverde cloud forest of Costa Rica and the glaciers of Kilimanjaro in Kenya whose icecap has shrunk by more than a half in 40 years.

UNEP estimates that 98 per cent of Greenland's mountains will be suffering severely by global warming by 2055, along with most of the high altitude glaciers of South America such as the Cordillera Blanca in Peru.

The scientists say conservation efforts should be concentrated on the mixed forests of the Caucasus, the moist forests of the north-western Andes and the montane ecosystems of California.

Wild mountain reindeer in Norway were also threatened by the construction of recreational resorts and cabins in what was once one of the most remote regions of Europe, said Christian Nellemann, a scientist with UNEP.

"The reindeer population will have to be reduced greatly in the coming years to avoid overgrazing in the remaining few undisturbed areas," Dr Nellemann said. "They may even disappear from many of the current ranges. It is a tragedy."