Alinja Mountain in the Context of Historical and Cultural Heritage

Mountains possess irreplaceable and highly fragile natural heritage, while also hosting exceptionally rich cultural heritage connected to world history. Nevertheless, their uniqueness faces numerous challenges, including population decline and the lack of systematic services: finding ways to value cultural heritage can serve as a strong remedy for addressing these issues. Therefore, this article provides an overview of initiatives that local and regional cultures should refer to in order to strengthen sustainable development in mountainous areas through the assessment of cultural heritage. This brief review conceptualizes mountains as global natural heritage and highlights the urgent need to protect the biodiversity of mountain environments. Mountains are recognized as cradles of biodiversity and essential providers of ecosystem services. They also constitute, after islands and beaches, the second most popular category of open-air destinations globally. However, in the current era of accelerating global ecological changes, mountain systems are experiencing unprecedented alterations in their ecological characteristics, which will directly affect millions of people dependent on mountain ecosystem services. Furthermore, increasing tourism places fragile mountain ecosystems under growing stress. This situation demands collaboration between scientists and stakeholders involved in mountain area management to protect mountains as global heritage. By emphasizing the prominent features of natural diversity in mountains and their importance in understanding global ecological change, this critical review argues that it is essential to assess both biotic and abiotic diversity to conceptualize mountains as a shared heritage of humanity. Accordingly, the development of soft infrastructure that can convey the essence of mountain directions and a committed network of scientists and tourism experts working together globally are required to protect this shared heritage.