Mountain forests still stretch over 9 million square kilometres with almost 4 million km2 above 1000 metres, and represent 28 % of the world's closed forest area.1 The observable global trend towards environmental degradation in mountain areas is partly caused by the extreme fragility of mountain ecosystems, which is due to its high geomorphic energy, steepness, isolation, and low temperatures, which cause vegetation growth and soil formation to occur very slowly. Another characteristic of mountain environments is that soils are usually thin, young, and highly erodible. These conditions set mountain ecosystems apart from all other global ecosystems and foster the quick emergence of scenarios of environmental imbalance and non-sustainable use. Mountain communities are often very poor, isolated and uneducated about sustainable forestry and agricultural practices, while population growth forces them into even higher, more fragile areas. Furthermore, one always has to keep in mind that ecosystems in mountain areas may need hundreds of years to recover.