how are mountains important to us?Class 8 geography ch Soil and land resources
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Mountain environments cover some 27% of the world’s land surface, and directly support the 22% of the world’s people who live within mountain regions. Lowland people also depend on mountain environments for a wide range of goods and services, including water, energy, timber, biodiversity maintenance, and opportunities for recreation and spiritual renewal. Mountains provide for the freshwater needs of more than half of humanity, and are, in effect, the water towers of the world.
Mountain biodiversity plays a key role in the support of global environmental, economic, social and cultural sectors through connections to; invasive species, air pollution, climate change, mining, hydropower, tourism, forests, agriculture. Therefore the challenge is to sustainably manage mountain regions to avoid degradation and avoid subsequent increases in poverty and hunger.