Representing 160’000 herder households of Mongolia, Ts. Buyannemeh, PUG Leader from Bogd soum of Bayankhongor aimag made an opening speech in the topic ‘Mongolian herders are working towards sustainable development’. Well known among his community for his commitment and exceptional achievement to lead the adoption of best practices to improve rangeland management and protection of wild life. Ts, Buyannemeh was invited to share his insights on challenges, opportunities and his dream to ensure sustainable development. He says “Bogd soum has seen 3 extreme dzuds in the last 20 years. This has been a very difficult time for his family. He would never wish to see his family and his livestock in the same situation again”.
Mongolian herders are working towards sustainable development
One of the topics that has been widely addressed was rangeland degradation and the urgent needs to adopt the rangeland protection law. While the number of livestock nationally peaked at an all-time high of 66 million in 2017, the subsequent rangeland degradation and decline in livestock productivity have prompted calls for urgent action. The international experts encouraged the development of an appropriate regulatory environment for open-access rangelands, improvements to the supply chain for livestock raw materials, and the production of high-quality, environmentally sound products. A suggested short-term measure is the review of the subsidization policies covering livestock products that bases on quality differentiation.
The sustainable livestock sector development, in particular rangeland management and animal health issues are a key pillar of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Mongolia for the simple reason that the wellbeing of over 160’000 herder families, which represent 70 percent of Mongolia’s rural population, depends directly on this rangeland. However, this rangeland faces a serious danger of degradation. According to the national assessment, 65% of rangeland in Mongolia is already degraded. This situation is alarming, as it threatens directly the livelihood of the current and future generation of Mongolian herders.
The good news is that 90% of the degraded land still has the capacity to regenerate itself naturally. This is however only possible if grazing management is improved and livestock grazing pressure is reduced. We need to act now.
SDC’s Green Gold and Animal Health Project addresses precisely this issue. Our project introduced a community based approach for sustainable rangeland management. Herders are encouraged to organize themselves into Pasture User Groups and regulate the use of their traditional rangeland together with local governments. This approach empowers both herders and local governments, who are the people directly concerned. By joining a Pasture User Group and signing a Rangeland Use Agreement, herders benefit from long term guaranteed access to their traditional rangeland. At the same time, they are empowered as a group to protect their interests when it comes to negotiation of and access to seasonal grazing lands, water sources, hay making areas, cooperative businesses, etc.
In the course of the past 12 years, the project has expanded from three soums to about 150 soums. It reached out to over 60’000 herder households. There are now about 1’400 Pasture User Groups, over 100 Soum Association and 9 Aimag Federation operating. About 900 Pasture User Groups signed Rangeland use agreement with their local Governments for responsible rangeland management.
In her address at the GASL meeting, SDC Country Director Gabriella Spirli highlighted that “these activities at the grass roots level are successful. However, let me underline that it remains an urgency to adopt a rangeland protection law in order to prevent from further degradation and promote sustainable livestock production. We are close to that as we heard from the opening speeches from GoM on Monday. More attention should be paid to the quality of herds instead of the quantity of animals. As in most areas the number of animals has exceeded current carrying capacity of rangelands by several folds, decisive measures such as introduction of grazing fees need to be introduced. Grazing fees should be managed and reinvested at local level to increase the acceptance of this measure”.
In collaboration with the MoFALI, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation’s Green Gold Animal Health Project presented a video entitled “Mongolia’s Nomadic Herding husbandry: Past, Present and Future” that examined the country’s long herding traditions, their cultural and social heritage and legacy, and the ability to exist in harmony with nature and the environment. Throughout the centuries, herders have raised 5 types of animals (camels, horses, cattle, yaks, sheeps and goats) that have been selectively bred throughout generations to adapt to the country’s harsh climatic conditions.
