The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) asserts that life conditions in mountain ecosystems are primarily determined by natural processes like erosion, mud flows, and landslides.
The Convention on Biological Diversity recognizes that mountain ecosystems often support high-risk biological populations. These ecosystems can become isolated habitats at higher risk of damage from global climate changes.
Mountain ecosystems support lowland life by providing timber, water, and other valuable resources. In fact, the Global Environment Facility reports that as much as 80 percent of humanity's freshwater is provided by mountains.
Mountain ecosystems are a threatened environment. Deforestation and illegal logging encroach on natural habitats while global warming reduces stored glacial fresh-water reserves.
According to an FAO report, the global number of people living in mountainous ecosystems is 1.2 billion. Of that number, 90 percent of the global mountain population lives in developing countries and countries in transition.
Humans use about half of mountain land areas for cultivation, animal grazing, and logging, thus contributing to the rapid depletion of mountain resources.