The goal of the International Mountain Society (IMS) is to advance knowledge and disseminate information about mountain research and mountain development throughout the world. The IMS aims to promote sustainable mountain development through improved communication among institutions and individuals, with a particular focus on mountain ecoregions in the developing world. In pursuing this purpose, it collaborates with like-minded institutions.

The IMS and MRD's donors cover the costs of operating the journal and its networking activities in excess of the portion paid by authors who publish articles in Mountain Research and Development.

The IMS is an association legally registered in Bern, Switzerland, with institutional and individual membership. It is the copyright holder and publisher of Mountain Research and Development (MRD). The IMS also helps set the editorial policy for the journal and determines the conditions of its publication.

Institutional members

The following organisations are Institutional Members of the International Mountain Society (IMS):

• SDC, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Bern, Switzerland
• ICIMOD, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal
• FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
• CONDESAN, Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion, Lima, Peru
• CDE, Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Switzerland
• MRI, Mountain Research Initiative, Bern, Switzerland
• UCA/MSRC, Mountain Societies Research Centre, University of Central Asia, Bishkek,
  Kyrgyz Republic
• ICAS, Interacademic Commission for Alpine Studies, Bern, Switzerland
• CMS, Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College, University of the Highlands and Islands, Perth, Scotland

Become an Institutional Member of the IMS

Institutions interested in supporting the cause of sustainable mountain development by improving communication and exchange between the research and development communities can join the IMS as an Institutional Member. Institutional Members pay an annual membership fee of US$ 5000. They help to shape MRD editorial policy and to fund special editorial support for authors from developing countries. They benefit from the possibility of using the online MRD to publish statements about their organization and mountain-related activities in MountainPlatform, on a rotating basis.

For further details, please contact: IMS[at]cde.unibe.ch