“Gratitude and Reverence to Mountains”

from Peace City Hiroshima 

Hiroshima Appeal, 2014

It has been said that “people are children of nature, and the earth is their best school”. Thus we have been enjoying a lot of blessings from nature, which cover clothing, food and housing, even while sometimes we are exposed to severe challenges.

However, on the other hand, our irreverent behavior that considers nature as belonging to human beings has led us to pollute air, water, and soil; and we have destroyed invaluable forests and ecosystems.

As we ourselves are deeply connected to mountains, we have experienced the fact that even a slight tampering with nature puts a strain on the environment. Therefore, we keenly feel that we should not put any further stress on mountain ecosystems and we should present feasible action goals to preserve the mountain environment in even small ways. For this purpose we have been working together with mountaineering friends all over the world.

In Japan a national holiday called “Mountain Day” was established this year and will be implemented from 2016, with the concept that we should enjoy mountaineering and give thanks to mountain harvests on that day.

It will be a good opportunity to think about the preservation of the mountain environment and to live with nature based on these principles.

From peace city Hiroshima, we hereby declare that

“We first extend our gratitude and reverence to mountains and shall work with our best efforts to reduce strain on mountain areas and to preserve their environment.”

November 25, 2014

UAAA             

the 20th Anniversary & General Assembly