Bernadette McDonald, director and vice-president, Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre, will speak at the United Nations launch of International Year of the Mountains (IYM) on December 11 in New York.

McDonald will give a presentation on Mountain Culture IYM events before a special gathering of the General Assembly of the United Nations to mark the IYM launch. Other speakers at the event include Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization Jacques Diouf, UN Secretary-General of the World Summit on Sustainable Development Nitin Desai, His Highness The Aga Khan and mountaineer, author and parliamentarian Reinhold Messner.

The United Nations has declared 2002 International Year of the Mountains. The aim of IYM is to ensure the well-being of mountain and lowland communities by promoting the conservation and sustainable development of mountain regions.

The exhibit Climbers to the Edges of the World: Portraits from The Summit, produced by Mountain Culture in partnership with the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, will also be part of the launch at the United Nations. The exhibit is sponsored by The North Face and eVENT Protection Fabrics.

Mountain Culture events for IYM include the Banff Mountain Summit 2002 — Extreme Landscape: Challenge and Celebration (October 27-29, 2002) and the Ecological and Earth Sciences in Mountain Areas Conference (September 6-10, 2002). Both events will take place at The Banff Centre.

The Summit will explore how extreme landscapes shape people's lives and how people impact extreme landscape. The event will include presentations, exhibits and performances by mountain authors, scientists, dancers, musicians, anthropologists and filmmakers. Speakers will include Reinhold Messner, award-winning author Gretel Ehrlich, author and ethnobotanist Wade Davis, specialist on sacred mountains Edwin Bernbaum, cultural photographer Chris Rainier, Canadian poet and singer Sid Marty, climber and founder of Patagonia Yvon Chouinard, adventurer Will Gadd, leading authority on international peace parks Jim Thorsell and conservationist George Schaller. The Summit is sponsored by National Geographic Society and will be part of Parks Canada’s initiative to mark IYM.

As a legacy of the event, National Geographic Books will publish Extreme Landscape: The Lure of Mountain Spaces, featuring writers involved with the Summit. Extreme Landscapes will be edited by Bernadette McDonald and will be launched at the Summit in October 2002.

The Ecological and Earth Sciences in Mountain Areas (EESMA) conference will focus on the latest research on physical and ecological mountain issues. The conference is sponsored by Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.

Tickets for the Banff Mountain Summit 2002 and registration for the EESMA conference are available at www.banffmountainfestivals.ca.

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