Mountain women are key forces of positive change in creating sustainable communities and conserving natural and cultural heritage. The Mountain Forum, a global mountain network, hosts a dedicated e-mail list and web page to help mountain women exchange experiences and offer support to one another.

The Mountain Women e-mail list began in 1998 with an e-mail discussion on “Mountain women: moving forward amid changing environments and eroding status” moderated by Jeannette Gurung and Greta Rana of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Elizabeth Byers of The Mountain Institute (TMI). About 70 people participated in the initial discussion. Since then, the Mountain Women e-mail list has grown to 800 subscribers from around the world and is an integral part of the global Mountain Forum network.

The purpose of the Mountain Women list is to provide an open forum for discussion of issues related to women living in the mountains. The list also welcomes general news and announcements related to women and mountains, including calendar events, new publications, research or project descriptions, job announcements, and questions for the subscriber group. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail message to subscribe-mf-women@lyris.bellanet.org. New subscribers are encouraged to send a brief e-mail message introducing themselves to the group and to share their particular interest or work as it relates to women and mountains.

The Mountain Women web site, located at  www.mtnforum.org/women, brings together many of the events linked to the ongoing “Celebrating mountain women” initiative. In addition to event information, this web site is linked to the gender section of the Mountain Forum library, which contains documented best practices, research reports, and even poetry and quotations from mountain women. We invite you to visit and to contribute your ideas and experiences.