To celebrate the UN-declared International Year of the Mountains in 202, countries around the world carried out a myriad of governmental and non-governmental sponsored activities. These ranged from mountain food, music and film festivals to bicycle tours and mountaineering climbs, to conferences, symposia, and workshops. There were also several major international events, mainly of the latter sort, including the Global Mountain Summit at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, which produced the Bishkek Mountain Platform. The book is a result of the conference held in Scotland in November 2002: “Nature and People: Conservation and management in the mountains of Northern Europe,” attended by almost 300 persons from 15 countries.
