Mountain research and development: Past, present and future

The quarterly journal Mountain Research and Development first appeared in 1981, although the seeds for creation of a mountain journal were sown in 1974 during the Munich Conference on Development of Mountain Environment. With the inclusion of Chapter 13, Managing fragile ecosystems: sustainable mountain development, into Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED - Earth Summit) at Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and the current progress in the journal's transformation to meet newly arising opportunities, it is timely to document its origins and evolution.