“It took months before I found my three-year-old horse, and that only happened when people started land rehabilitation and it was found dead in one of the shafts,” said a herder from Yusunbulag soum, Gobi-Altai aimag.
For many years, the issue of the rehabilitation of land degraded through artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has been limited, primarily due to the lack of an appropriate guidance tool to enable artisanal and small-scale miners (ASMrs) to develop such a practice.
The occasional attempts at highly mechanized technical rehabilitation that were undertaken were neither ecologically viable nor appropriate.
However, in recent times ASM partnerships who recognize themselves as formalized groups capable of assuming responsibility for the land they work, are increasingly demonstrating their commitment to nature conservation and are seeking better rehabilitation solutions that are both ecologically and economically viable, as well as socially acceptable.
From 2014-2015, the Engaging Stakeholders for Environmental Conservation (ESEC II) Project, as one of its objectives to promote green rehabilitation technologies, piloted the implementation of frugal rehabilitation demonstration (FRD) projects in 17 locations.
Such FRDs demonstrated how the negative impacts of ASM could be mitigated through the development of better environmental practices that were practical and acceptable to local governments, stakeholders and artisanal miners.
At present, 144 ha of abandoned land degraded through illegal ASM have been rehabilitated at 17 locations in nine aimags by more than 650 ASMrs.
Following a series of assessment visits, the FRD sites were selected based on several criteria, one of which was the availability of organized ASM partnerships in the area capable of pooling their labour, assuming responsibility and, importantly, demonstrating genuine interest and commitment.
The involvement of local governments was possible through the conclusion of Memorandums of Understanding with The Asia Foundation, which ensured mutual support and cooperation in implementing FRDs at the selected sites. In such a way, public prejudice against ASM is expected to lessen and ASM's contribution to local sustainable development be enhanced through an improved “license to operate” gained through demonstrable environmental best practice.
Governor of Ulziit soum, Dundgobi aimag, Mr. Erdenebileg: “We’re very glad the issue of ASM degraded lands will be resolvable.”
Throughout its implementation, the FRD ensures the involvement of and collaboration between local governments and other stakeholders affected by or involved in ASM, which builds a strong and reliable collaborative approach.
The process was comparatively new and required involvement from the project, particularly in relation to the provision of technical expertise and guidance to build rehabilitation skills and capacities among ASMrs.
The objective is to increase economic opportunities for responsible artisanal miners and to reduce the negative environmental impacts of ASM.
Ms. Oyunchimeg, head of the “Bayan Rashaant Nutag” ASM NGO in Gobi-Altai aimag: “The implementation of the FRD was a real and rare opportunity for us to demonstrate that we also care and can be committed. We believe it will be good leverage for our local government to allocate mining land in the future.”
In 2016, the ESEC II project, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Green Development and Tourism, and with the support of local governments, is planning to replicate ASM frugal rehabilitation in other areas by seeking co-funding opportunities.
The aim is to make the frugal rehabilitation process available and applicable to interested groups and to secure a transition in the commissioning and monitoring of frugal rehabilitation to local government.
Based on, and informed by, the results and technical experiences of the pilot FRDs, the ESEC II team developed a Frugal Rehabilitation Methodology (FRM) for which there has been extensive consultation with relevant parties.
The FRM is a comprehensive tool that emerged from the needs of different stakeholders affected by or involved in ASM. It is a practical, easy-to-use tool that enables ASMrs to carry out rehabilitation in an economically affordable, ecologically viable and socially acceptable manner.
In 2016, the FRM is expected to be formalized as an annex to an updated ASM regulation (308), which awaits government adoption.
Mr. B. Batkhuu, Director of the Ministry of Mining’s Policy Implementation and Coordination Department: “Mongolia created a legal environment for organised ASM; however, the issue of rehabilitation was not clearly defined. Now as the FRM is available and is expected to be an official document, the legal issuance of land for mining by ASMrs can be secured.”
ESEC II is now working to develop and publish two handbooks – the FRM Field Handbook and an accompanying FRD Case Studies Handbook, which together will inform stakeholders and government officials about cost-effective environmental rehabilitation approaches that have been adapted to the range of ecological conditions throughout Mongolia.