Governance is increasingly recognized as key to sustainability and human wellbeing in mountain social–ecological systems (MtSES). Mountains present particular challenges for effective governance related to their geographic complexities, status as commons, susceptibility to environmental change, and impacts of external political and socioeconomic processes. This study reports on the results of a global survey of local mountain governance. It explored a range of known governance challenges to discover which are most prevalent and whether relative strength of local governance helps to mitigate these challenges. The study analyzed 75 survey responses across 5 continents from researchers and practitioners who work on mountain governance. Major challenges for governance included contradictory policies, poverty, and the presence of valuable nonrenewable natural resources. Compared with sites with stronger local governance, those with weaker arrangements reported significantly greater prevalence of certain challenges, such as corruption. Yet many challenges did not differ significantly by strength of local governance, implicating external factors instead. This finding points to a need to improve governance across levels to support MtSES sustainability.

中文翻译：

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可持续治理山区的挑战：来自全球调查的见解

治理越来越被认为是山区社会生态系统 (MtSES) 可持续性和人类福祉的关键。山区因其地理复杂性、公地地位、对环境变化的敏感性以及外部政治和社会经济进程的影响，对有效治理提出了特殊挑战。本研究报告了一项全球地方山区治理调查的结果。它探索了一系列已知的治理挑战，以发现哪些最为普遍，以及地方治理的相对实力是否有助于缓解这些挑战。该研究分析了来自 5 大洲从事山区治理工作的研究人员和从业人员的 75 份调查答复。治理的主要挑战包括相互矛盾的政策、贫困、以及宝贵的不可再生自然资源的存在。与地方治理较强的站点相比，那些安排较弱的站点报告某些挑战（例如腐败）的发生率要高得多。然而，许多挑战并没有因地方治理的强度而有显着差异，而是涉及外部因素。这一发现表明需要改进跨级别的治理以支持 MtSES 的可持续性。