Green Gold Project: Mongolian Herders’ Pasture Management Practice featured at Milano Expo 2015

Local news, 05.05.2015

A Mongolian herders’ initiative to revitalise traditional collective management for the restoration of degraded rangelands was named the Best Practices for Sustainable Development (BPSD) at the 2015 Milano Expo.  

greengold
Pasture - Mongolia's green gold © SDC

“Mongolian herders not only use rangeland resources to sustain their livelihoods; they also have a bigger role of environmental stewardship, to care for and maintain their homeland,” said Green Gold Project Manager Ts. Enkh-Amgalan.

“We are encouraged that our project was selected among the best practices for managing natural resources at this universal expo.”

The expo - the Universal Exhibition that Milan, Italy, is hosting from May 1 to October 31, 2015 – is dedicated to promoting food security and saving resources.

Last year, the expo called for successful projects, services, products and scientific solutions for submission in the BPSD competition.

Among 749 evaluated projects from more 130 participating countries, 18 were selected as the winners to be featured at the expo. SDC’s Green Gold Project was among the winners and was featured in a documentary at the expo.

The aim of the competition was to share the best ways of identifying tangible solutions for food security and the saving of resources that meet the needs of developing countries.

More than 20 million people from throughout the world will visit the expo in six months.

To read more about the Green Gold Project featured at the Expo:

http://magazine.expo2015.org/cs/Exponet/en/innovation/grazing-lands-at-risk-for-desertification--the-solution-in-mongolia

www.greengold.mn

To find more about the Milano Expo 2015 and other winning projects:

http://www.expo2015.org/en/project/feeding-knowledge

For more information, please contact us at:

info@greengold.mn

Local news, 23.06.2015

A comprehensive study on the state of Mongolia’s rangelands has found that 65 percent had been altered, with 40 percent of the sites monitored requiring more than three years to recover. Seven percent suffered highly persistent degradation or desertification.

herders-move-to-summer-camp
Herders moving to their summer camp - Rotational grazing is one of the proved methods for restoring degraded pasture. © SDC

The “National Rangeland Health Assessment Report”, presented to the Mongolian government at a workshop held on May 28, summarises the results of a six-year research project carried out by the National Agency of Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring, the National University of Life Sciences, the Academy of Sciences, the Agency of Land Affairs, the Geodesy and Cadastre and SDC’s Green Gold Project.

“Addressing rangeland health is an important issue given that it is the backbone of one of Mongolia’s strategic sectors and will ensure national food security and employment creation in rural areas,” said Minister of Food and Agriculture R. Burmaa in her opening address at the workshop.

According to the report, the primary challenge to sustainable livestock production in Mongolia is the decline in rangeland health in many parts of the country.

Causes and Solutions 

The trends of significant climatic warming, declining levels of precipitation and increasing livestock numbers pose a risk of further rangeland degradation, particularly in the central and northern parts of Mongolia.

The report suggests that grazing management practices associated with healthy pastures should be maintained in some areas, whereas in other areas management practices should be altered to promote perennial grass recovery, a reduction in the dominance of degradation indicator plants, and control soil erosion.

A new, comprehensive approach focused on the sustainable production of meat, fibre and other environmental goods and services was required. However, livestock numbers in excess of pasture carrying capacity remains the primary barrier to sustainable livestock production.

According to the report, increases in livestock numbers are likely to intensify and further exacerbate rangeland degradation. However, there were ample opportunities for changes in management practice and policy that improved rangeland health, that enabled adaptation to climate and land-use change in the long term, and that secured the future of pastoral production and food security in Mongolia. However, it was vital to act decisively and promptly before those opportunities were lost.

According to the report: “A vast majority of monitoring sites, representing more than half of Mongolia’s rangelands, suggest that changes to grazing management could result in recovery or progress toward recovery within 10 years.”

Download the full report (PDF, 66 Pages, 2.2 MB) in English

To find more about the project, please visist:

www.greenmongolia.mn