Sustainable mountain development A/RES/74/227 people in vulnerable situations and to implement practical actions that can safeguard decent work opportunities, particularly for youth, in rural areas; 8. Stresses that the traditions and knowledge of indigenous peoples living in mountain areas and the knowledge of local mountain communities, particularl y in the fields of agriculture, medicine and management of natural resources, should be fully considered, respected and promoted in development policy, strategies and programmes in mountain regions, and underlines the need to promote the full participation and involvement of local mountain communities in decisions that affect them and to integrate indigenous and local knowledge, heritage and values in all development initiatives, in consultation with and with the consent of the concerned indigenous peoples and local mountain communities, as appropriate; 9. Recognizes the need to increase the adaptive capacity, resilience and sustainability of food and agricultural production with regard to climate change, notes that sustainable production practices, agroforestry and the conservation of agrobiodiversity in mountain areas ensure food security and nutrition and dietary diversity and quality, generate income for smallholder farmers and aid conservation and restoration, addressing the particular vulnerabilities o f food production systems to the adverse impacts of climate change, and also notes that mountain farmers and pastoralists play a key role in agroecology; 10. Also recognizes that urgent action is needed to reduce poverty in mountain areas, and in this regard encourages Member States and all relevant stakeholders to take concrete and targeted measures to eradicate poverty in mountain areas; 11. Notes that women are often the primary managers of mountain resources and the main actors in agriculture, underlines the need for improved access to resources and productive assets, including land and economic and financial services, for women in mountain regions, as well as the need to strengthen the role of women in mountain regions in decision-making processes that affect their communities, cultures and environments, and encourages Governments and intergovernmental organizations to mainstream a gender perspective, including through data disaggregated by sex, in mountain development activities, programmes and projec ts towards the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment; 12. Recognizes that mountains provide sensitive indications of climate change through phenomena such as modifications to biological diversity, the retreat of mountain glaciers, flash floods and changes in seasonal run-off, which are having an impact on major sources of freshwater in the world, and stresses the need to undertake actions to minimize the negative effects of these phenomena, promote adaptation measures and prevent the loss of biological diversity; 13. Also recognizes that the mountain cryosphere has an impact on surrounding lowland areas, even far from the mountains, and that widespread cryosphere changes affect physical, biological and human systems in the mountains and surrounding lowlands, with impacts evident even in the ocean; 14. Encourages Member States to collect at the local, national and regional levels, as appropriate, disaggregated scientific data on mountain areas through systematic monitoring, including of trends of progress and change, based on relevant criteria, to support interdisciplinary research programmes and projects and to enhance an integrated and inclusive approach to decision-making and planning, and in this regard notes that the Mountain Green Cover Index is included in the global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 13 as an indicator for target 15.4 of the Sustainable __________________ 13 19-22499 Resolution 70/1. 5/8