Transnational governance in mountain regions: Progress and prospects

•The number of transnational governance mechanisms for mountain areas is small but growing.•Their spatial scope varies from relatively small areas, such as transboundary protected areas, to entire mountain ranges.•Their thematic focus varies from relatively narrow issues, such as the conservation and sustainable use of individual species, to sustainable development.•They are most often found in Europe, Central Asia and South America.

The number of transnational governance mechanisms specifically relating to mountains is limited. Using the three axes of the framework developed by Balsiger and VanDeveer (2012) – agency, substance, and territoriality – this paper reviews progress in this domain and looks forward. It introduces themes for transnational governance of mountains in the context of the Rio conferences of 1992 and 2012 and then presents progress with regard to governance arrangements in different regions of the world, first, for biodiversity and related issues and, second, for sustainable (mountain) development. As well as state actors, many nonstate actors are involved in these arrangements; these actors are discussed. The paper concludes with conclusions regarding transnational governance in mountain areas to date and identifies future actions in the realms of monitoring, research and policy.