International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and 
Rural Development in Mountain Regions (SARD)
16-20 June 2002, Adelboden, Switzerland

IISD's SUMMARY REPORT HTML PDF TXT

Highlights for Thursday, 20 June 2002 

On Thursday, participants met in plenary to discuss and adopt the Adelboden Declaration on SARD Mountains. Gerard Viatte, former OECD Director for Agriculture, outlined the drafting process and introduced the draft declaration. Manfred Boetsch, Director, Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture, moderated the session. Delegates also met in informal meetings with stakeholders followed by a Roundtable discussion chaired by Jacques Paul Eckebil, Assistant Director General of FAO.
Above photos: Delegates rushing out of the plenary for a group picture

Late Thursday afternoon, Jacques Paul Eckebil, Assistant Director General of FAO, presented his concluding remarks on the conference. He said that progress had been achieved on numerous issues on SARD in mountain regions, which if implemented would make a positive difference in the lives of mountain people. He added that agreement had been reached on a list of specific actions as well as on concrete initiatives such as SARD and the International Partnership for Sustainable Development.  He stressed that SARD-M2002 was a beginning rather than an end in itself. He noted agreement on bringing the declaration to the attention of the WSSD and Bishkek Mountain Summit and, establishing the Adelboden group on SARD. He added that opportunities existed both at Bishkek and WSSD to further explore the nature and functions of this group. Eckebil thanked the participants, Swiss authorities, FAO officials, Crea consultants and others.

Manfred Boetsch noted that SARD-M2002 was filled with �great moments, great events and interesting lively discussions.� He noted that the work on preparing the Adelboden Declaration embodied the spirit of Adelboden. He thanked participants, organizers, translators, and assistants and declared the conference over at 6:45 pm.