LocationsBuilding disaster resilient futures in the mountains
December 11, 2025
Accelerated melting of glaciers due to global warming is increasing the risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), Credit: UNDP Bhutan
Thinking of mountains usually evokes an image of pristine landscapes and simple communities living with the rhythms of nature. Yet behind their beauty lies a geography of inherent risk. Steep slopes, fragile soils, and rapidly changing glaciers and river basins create conditions where hazards are triggered and maybe escalate quickly.
Mountain regions are uniquely exposed to hazards such as landslides, flash floods, avalanches, cloudbursts and glacial lake outburst floods. As the impacts of climate change intensify, these risks are increasing – glaciers are retreating and destabilizing, rainfall patterns are shifting ,and extreme weather is striking with greater force and unpredictability.
For the millions of people who rely on mountain ecosystems for water, food, energy and livelihoods, this growing volatility is reshaping daily life. A single cloudburst can cut off entire valleys for weeks; weakened slopes threaten homes and infrastructure; a swelling glacial lake can put hundreds of villages and towns downstream in danger.
Building disaster risk resilience in mountain regions is indispensable to protect lives, ecosystems and economies.
Across mountains globally, UNDP works with communities and governments to strengthen preparedness, improve early warning systems, build resilient infrastructure and integrate risk considerations into development planning.
Early warning: Staying ahead of fast-moving hazards
In the mountains, hazards can unfold within minutes. Steep terrain accelerates water flow, unstable slopes can fail suddenly and melting snow can trigger avalanches with little time to react. This makes early warning systems (EWS) a vital tool to protect lives and livelihoods.
In Kyrgyzstan’s Son-Kul Range, early warning for avalanches is being strengthened through upgraded monitoring stations that assess snowpack stability, temperature, wind and precipitation. These observations allow issuance of timely alerts along major transport corridors where avalanches threaten road safety each winter. In summer, the same stations continue to monitor glaciers and high-altitude lakes, recognising that warming temperatures can heighten the risks of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).
Neighbouring Uzbekistan is also expanding multi-hazard early warning capacities, where communities face floods, mudflows, landslides, avalanches and drought. Newly installed automated weather stations, hydrological sensors and photoelectric meteorological devices are improving data quality for forecasting and decision-making, with technical specialists being trained to operate these systems.
This whole spectrum of early detection – from snowpack instability to rising water levels and rainfall – is helping anticipate hazards before they strike.
Strengthening community preparedness
While technology can deliver timely alerts, resilience in mountain regions ultimately depends systems that draws on the strengthened the capacity of people – their knowledge, readiness and ability to self-organize complemented by high and low technology infrastructure. Remote settlements can be cut off from outside help for hours or days, so community preparedness is vital.
In Pakistan’s Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, locally led disaster preparedness has grown substantially as residents confront the expanding threat of GLOFs and cloudbursts. Across 24 valleys in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, preparedness has accelerated through 23 community-based disaster management centres, 60 evacuation shelters and extensive sensitisation efforts. Early warnings provide real-time alerts that communities are trained to interpret and act upon.
Communities are also integrating Indigenous glacier preservation practices – such as glacier grafting, ice stupas and avalanche harvesting – to stabilize water supply and reduce hazard risks. These traditional techniques, supported through climate finance, are helping communities adapt to rapid glacial change in ways that blend science with local knowledge. Together, preparedness, training and community leadership are turning early warnings into life-saving action for more than 600,000 people across these highlands.
GLOFs are also a major threat in the Nepal Himalayas, where preparedness is being strengthened through a mix of lake-lowering interventions, community-based early warning systems, hydrometeorological monitoring and evacuation drills. These measures are helping high-altitude settlements anticipate hazards earlier and respond more safely when glacial lakes show signs of rising instability.
Resilient cities and infrastructure
Mountain cities face unique challenges. Steep terrain concentrates rainfall, narrow valleys limit space for drainage, and rapid urbanisation often exceeds the capacity of local systems to manage water, slopes and expanding settlements. When cloudbursts or flash floods hit, poorly protected roads, bridges, embankments and neighbourhoods can be overwhelmed within minutes.
In Bhutan, where cities like Thimphu, Phuentsholing and Samtse sit in steep Himalayan catchments, strengthening infrastructure resilience is a national priority. A UNDP-supported initiative is integrating flood-resilient design into stormwater systems, riverbank protections and land-use planning. These measures reduce exposure to flash floods, stabilise slopes and help ensure that expanding settlements can withstand heavier rainfall and more frequent extreme weather.
Nepal is also strengthening resilience of its rapidly growing mountain towns against earthquakes by institutionalizing municipal and provincial preparedness. Through improved construction practices, better enforcement of building codes and establishment of emergency operations centres, local governments are enhancing their ability to reduce urban earthquake risks and respond more effectively when theystrike.
Community drills to prepare for earthquakes.
A whole-of-system approach
Resilience in mountains requires systems that connect early warning, planning, infrastructure, climate data and emergency response systems. When these elements are aligned, governments can anticipatehazards earlier, coordinate across valleys and protect communities living in steep, hazard-prone terrain.
In the Caucasus mountains of Georgia, this systems-wide approach is taking shape. Recent efforts supported by UNDP focus on improving multi-hazard risk assessments, developing methodologies for avalanche hazard modelling and mapping, integrating climate data into municipal planning and strengthening the readiness of emergency services.
These measures help authorities better understand landslide, flood and avalanche risks, ensuring that preparedness becomes part of everyday governance, not only emergency operations.
Women at the heart of mountain resilience
Around the world, women are central to the fabric of mountain communities – safeguarding food systems, managing natural resources and sustaining cultural traditions. As disaster risks intensify, their knowledge, roles and leadership are essential to strengthen community resilience.
In the Puno region of the Peruvian Andes, more than 3,800 metres above sea level, women from the Aymara communities are leading community-driven responses to climate stresses and disaster risks. Through local organizations, they safeguard native seed varieties, protect agrobiodiversity and improve water management in the face of droughts, frost and shifting rainfall patterns.
They are also driving knowledge exchange and collective decision-making, helping their communities strengthen food security and social cohesion as extreme conditions become more frequent.
When women are empowered, resilience multiplies.
Towards safer mountain futures
Mountain regions are at the frontline of climate risk. By investing in early warnings, community preparedness, resilient infrastructure and long-term cooperation, countries are strengthening their ability to protect people and ecosystems. These efforts ensure that mountain communities are not only protected from the next hazard, but also better equipped to build safer, more resilient futures.
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