I never knew there was a United Nations International Mountain Day until I started researching mountain eco-systems for the novel I’m working on.

Almost one billion people live in mountain areas, and over half the human population depends on mountains for water, food and clean energy. Yet mountains are under threat from climate change, land degradation, over exploitation and natural disasters, with potentially far-reaching and devastating consequences, both for mountain communities and the rest of the world. http://www.un.org/en/events/mountainday/

The theme of the 2018 International Mountain Day is #MountainsMatter….for water, disaster risk reduction, tourism, food, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and for biodiversity.

Did you know that mountains provide “between 60 and 80 percent of all freshwater resources for our planet”?

The FAO is asking all those who enjoy (holidays? skiing? snowboarding? mountaineering?) or depend on the mountains (that glass of water?) to join the call to specify why mountains matter at #MountainsMatter.

These photos are all from Banff. I had the great fortune to participate in a writing residency at the Banff Arts Centre in 2014.