Focus Issue: Addressing Challenges of Hazards, Risks, and Disaster Management in Mountain Regions

Healthy social–ecological systems in mountains are essential for reducing disaster risk and achieving sustainable development globally. Natural hazards and disaster risks in mountains differ significantly from those in lowlands, with multiple factors complicating disaster management and rescue operations in mountainous environments. Mountain social–ecological systems are highly sensitive to global warming, increasing climate variability, and related hazardous processes. Future scenarios include extensive melting of glaciers in mountain regions around the world, intrinsically interconnected with increased risks of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). Furthermore, changes in precipitation patterns and the hydrological cycle involve changes in the cryosphere and vegetation cover. Altogether, these changes lead to more frequent disasters triggered by flash floods, landslides, or forest fires, with devastating consequences. Moreover, particularly in mountainous terrain, the interplay between geological setting and meteorological events often induces multihazard situations, leading to the simultaneous occurrence of several different hazard processes in the same location or their consecutive occurrence as cascading events (Kappes et al 2012; Terzi et al 2019). Disruption of livelihoods, increased pressure on natural resources, and effects on agricultural productivity, as well as food insecurity, land tenure, escalating poverty, and migration, are among the main areas of concern (Wymann von Dach et al 2017).