Examples of mountain landscapes are protected on hundreds of sites throughout the world. Conservation organizations and the scientific community recognize values for mountain protected areas that include contributions to strategies for addressing global change. To establish a functional network of protected areas, an informational framework that describes and communicates the important attributes of participating sites is proposed. Benefits include a means for evaluating system status, a mechanism for marketing values and opportunities, a foundation for ecological and cultural research, a system for exchanging knowledge of common interest, a focus for creating educational programs, and standards for new additions to the network.
