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In Europe, mountain areas account for about 36% of the total territory and are home to 16% of the population, but they are crucial for the continent as a whole. The availability of basic commodities, like water, depends on them; they play a key role in carbon sequestration, and are areas of biodiversity.

And, as if that were not enough, the value chains of different consumer products, especially foodstuffs, are developed in these mountain systems. Therefore, they are complex and valuable socio-ecological systems that are threatened by diverse factors diverging from those affecting other areas.

To shed light on these specificities and devise adaptation strategies to address them, a team at the University of Cordoba turned to those who know these mountain areas best: the local actors who live and work in them. The research is in the journal Ambio.

As part of the MOVING project, coordinated by the University of Cordoba, the team analyzed the vulnerability of 23 mountainous areas in 16 European countries using a participatory methodology that engages the communities in each area related to the value chains of their most representative products.

"In each territory, a multi-stakeholder platform was created in which the agricultural and livestock sector, research center staff, political representatives, companies, associations and institutions were invited to participate," explained María del Mar Delgado, a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Finance and Accounting, who is heading up the project.

Through surveys, workshops and interviews with more than 500 local agents, the team managed to learn about their perceptions of the vulnerabilities of each area and the impact of these stresses and threats on the final product.

The results of this work, pioneering at the European level due to the scope of the territory analyzed, indicate that, although the elements that affect these spaces vary according to the characteristics of each one, changes in climate and demography are having the greatest impact on mountain areas.

As explained by researcher Pablo González, with the Department of Forestry Engineering at the UCO, "aspects such as the lack of rainfall, or extreme weather events, as well as the depopulation of rural areas and changes in land use, are significantly affecting the value chains of products from mountain areas."

The study shows that the mountain areas of Turkey and Bulgaria, Sierra Morena, and certain mountain ranges in Portugal, are having the greatest impact.

In the case of Andalucía, the project focused on the Sierra Morena and its value chain of Iberian products, and the Sierras Béticas, with its olive oil-producing mountain olive groves. In both cases, the most important element highlighted by local agents was drought or changes in precipitation patterns. In the case of the Sierra Morena, pests, invasive species and the overexploitation of resources due to excessive livestock were also major concerns. As for mountain olive groves, another of the elements pointed out was population loss in rural areas.

More than 160 adaptation mechanisms

The good news, González explained, is that the impact of these changes can be reduced by incorporating adaptation mechanisms. In the course of the participatory process promoted by the MOVING project, local agents identified more than 160 adaptation mechanisms of different kinds, ranging from the implementation of sustainable agricultural and livestock practices, to commitments to applied research, to the development of effective policies, especially on the part of the European Union.

"When we incorporate this adaptive capacity, the impact is reduced by more than half," explained González, who pointed out that not all the mechanisms proposed are equally applicable. However, "those that we do consider feasible, some of which are already being applied, could reduce the overall vulnerability of the systems by up to 50%."

The team responsible for the project states that one of the most pertinent aspects of the participatory process carried out is the opportunity it offers local agents to meet, listen to each other, debate and exchange impressions and knowledge.

In addition, the study gathers their perceptions and what they are willing to change, thus enabling communities and value chains to be involved in the design and implementation of strategies to help reduce the vulnerability of mountain areas and, thus, that of Europe as a whole.