ABSTRACT
Representative examples of mountain landscapes receive some form of legal protection in many countries throughout the world. A recent tabulation of 442 prominent sites, those 10,000 ha or greater in size with 1, 500 m or more relief, reveals global protection for more than 243 million ha of mountainous terrain (Thorsell and Harrison, 1992). These protected areas represent nature reserves, national parks, natural landmarks, and managed sanctuaries in each of the eight global biogeographic realms described by Udvardy (1975). Distribution of the 442 sites is skewed with more than half the number and nearly two thirds the land area located in the Nearctic and Palaeoarctic realms. When numerous smaller sites are considered, mountains appear to receive more extensive protection than most other biomes (Poore, 1992).
