Dear Readers,

Integrated planning and management of land resources is one of the themes of the year 2000 Spring Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). This issue of Mountain Research and Development (MRD) follows the CSD initiative by focusing on integrated management of land resources in mountain systems, emphasizing the specific problems, needs, and activities associated with sustainable mountain development. There is now widespread awareness that mountain resources are particularly endangered due to their fragile biophysical setting and their great attraction for human use.

The articles in the first, newly enhanced section of MRD, which is concerned with mountain development, focus on the theme of integrated management of mountain resources. We invited specialists in mountain research and development to share the experiences they have had with problems and opportunities in sustainable mountain development. We also intend to do this in future issues of MRD, focusing on specific themes and development-related topics and practical experience. The contributions in this issue deal with development in mountains as far apart as the Andes, Mount Kenya, the islands of Svalbard in the Arctic, the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan, and the Rocky Mountains, as well as with more general issues such as the importance of local self-determination. The latter is expressed in MRD's exclusive interview with a Bolivian farmer and parliamentarian. Some of the papers in the second section, devoted to mountain research, also address this theme. In this section, we have maintained the outstanding MRD tradition of articles that are peer reviewed by at least two independent referees. This tradition fully conforms with MRD's new editorial policy.

Readers will certainly notice that the year 2000 marks the beginning of a new era for MRD, with a new format, a new editorial team, and a new organizational structure. We invite you to examine the journal, to visit us on the Internet at  www.mrd-journal.org ,and to give us your reactions by sending an email message to mrd-journal@ giub.unibe.ch. During the next 2 years, we hope to further develop the journal into a major publication concerned with the world's mountains. In doing this, we shall be helping to prepare for the UN International Year of Mountains, IYM2002. We ask you to share your ideas about the journal with us and to help us disseminate MRD more widely. Recommend the journal to your library or take the initiative to see that MRD becomes available in even more institutions in developing countries, where a majority of the mountains are located. Please contact us; we will be glad to discuss with you our vision for the future of this newly enhanced journal!