Mountain Protected Areas : Assessing Their Expansion and the Rationales for Their Establishment

Protected areas in mountains are regularly in the focus of international efforts to conserve the environment and enable sustainable development. The following article analyses the current extend of protection in mountainous versus non-mountainous areas, sheds light on the rationales behind the establishment of mountain protected areas, and proposes directions for future endeavours in protecting mountain areas. Results show that the percentage of protected areas in mountains is slightly higher nowadays, but was nearly double as high in the 1960s. The main reasons for this preference could be found in biophysical features of mountains (biodiversity hotspots, endemism) and in the remoteness and low human population densities, which allowed creating protected areas without expecting considerable resistance. In the recent years the improvement of peopleoriented conservation and development approaches dominates (at least for the recently established areas) the discussion.