Sustainably managed pastures and healthy animals: Mongolia's 'green gold'
Mongolia's vast grasslands seem to stretch for ever into the distance – but decades of overgrazing now threaten their existence. When Mongolia was under Soviet control, livestock numbers were limited to around 25 million. Since the end of state regulation they have grown to about 70 million (2017). Consequently, two thirds of rangeland – most of which is owned by the state and on which the herders' livelihoods largely depend – is degraded. Many once rich pastures have given way to vast swathes of sand and stone. The animals no longer find enough food over the short summers to survive the bitter cold of winter, and many die of disease. The herders are finding it increasingly hard to make a living.
In response, the SDC is supporting a number of measures under its Green Gold scheme. Green Gold, which brings together two previous projects and will run until 2020, has three main goals:
- More sustainable use of pastureland
The project encourages nomadic herder families to work together in pasture user groups to improve the management of pastures. It also promotes written agreements setting out binding rights and obligations between the pasture users and local authorities.
- Better quality products – successfully marketed
Herders receive advice to help them improve the quality of their products such as yak and camel wool, hides and meat. The project also creates ties between the herder cooperatives and the processing sectors, cutting out the intermediaries and increasing profits.
- Healthier animals
Green Gold works at all levels to improve livestock health – from advising herders and vets on disease prevention and promoting immunisation campaigns to drafting and overseeing the implementation of the new act on animal health, which the Mongolian parliament passed in 2017.