During the meeting Matriarchy and Mountains organised by Michela Zucca, the assembly of the Women Mountain Network voted this resolution

Declaration of Celebrating Mountain Women of the world assembly of mountian women - Thimpu, Bhutan, 2002

As women leave, mountains die: since the last decades, Alpine communities are facing a strong process of female depopulation, caused by conflict between individual expectations and social demands.

Full paper about the conlict between social demands, rooted in patriarchal tradition, and individual expectations, that women have to face in rural communities in the Alps.

Throughout the centuries, women have succeeded in surviving in environmental frontiers, maintaining a close relationship with nature, exploiting resources and at the same time preserving the territory

Women are the more involved in production of quality food: it is an anthropological chacteristic that can lead to new ways of sustainable development and economic growth.

Matriarchy and Mountains 4 In prehistorical age, migration of human groups from the North left the heritage of the so called "religion of withches", based on a matriarchal, shamanic culture.

INFANTICIDE CAUSED BY «DEPRESSION»
It is an increasing phenomenon especially in small mountain villages. It is attributed to "postpartum depression" even when the partum has passed for many years. There is a social motivation for this type of depression: an anthropological context that favors filicide. The religious tradition is an integral part of this culture: women must put family and care before anything else. This is thought as «natural» and if you feel discomfort you must be silent.