The representatives of Mountain Territories from forty countries met on 20 September 2002 in Quito (Ecuador) and adopted the main points of the following declaration. This charter was then drafted as faithfully as possible in the spirit of the meeting. In keeping with the mission assigned to them, the encounter organizers submit this text for approval. They would like as many mountain towns or communities, organizations and inhabitants as possible to ratify it. By this broad adhesion, it will become the "Charter of World Mountain People". The charter will be binding on the signatories. By this Charter, mountain people all over the world express their desire to work together to promote a certain idea of the mountains and their future.