The economics of mountain resource flows

For centuries mountain ecosystems and communities have played a critical role in maintaining a sustainable flow of mountain resources to the plains below. With the advent of new technologies, population increase and development pressures, the magnitude of these resource outflows has increased dramatically. However, downstream beneficiaries have contributed little to reinvestment in their management or renewal, or compensation to the traditional stewards of these resources. As a result, natural assets are flowing downhill at unsustainable rates and mountain communities are becoming..