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The idea for Mountains: Sources of Water, Sources of Knowledge began with the constitution of the Association Montagne 2002, whose mission was to celebrate the International Year of Mountains in the alpine canton of Valais, Switzerland. The year 2002 was the occasion for diverse activities ranging from exchanges with Bhutan and the construction of a traditional hanging bridge, to a contest for schoolchildren and roving photography exhibits. An international scientific colloquium was also organized at the University Institute Kurt Boesch. Committee members of the Association Montagne subsequently agreed that the presentations should be gathered into a book. The topic seemed particularly approp- ate for the Martin Beniston-edited series, "Advances in Global Change Research," which regularly publishes the results of the annual Wengen Workshops on Global Climate Change Research as well as of other conferences. This volume was a collective effort. The dedication of the Assoc- tion Montagne committee members was unflagging. The commitment to the overall project of State Councilor Jean-Jacques Rey-Bellet and of Gabrielle Nanchen, then President of the Fondation pour le developpement durable des regions de montagne, was particularly noteworthy and is gratefully acknowledged here. We appreciate the support of numerous financial sponsors of the Association Montagne 2002 and its International Year of Mountains activities, who made the conference and the book possible. Martin Beniston deserves thanks for including the volume in his series.