Mongolia

Mongolian large herbivores

Improve situation for the large herbivores

• Develop a cooperative conservation program between Mongolia and China. The WWF China program office needs to get involved.
• Develop awareness among local people, as well as world-wide, about Mongolia´s endangered Large herbivores, the Gobi Desert, Altai mountains and biodiversity loss in general
• Secure effective habitat conservation of large herbivores to facilitate conservation of the entire Gobi Desert and Altai Ecosystems and Large herbivores
• Increase the capacity of local administrators and biologists to conserve and rehabilitate important ecosystems, using Large herbivores's as a model

Wild Bactrian camel

Developed model conservation programs

• Wild Bactrian camels represent the only wild relative of all domestic camel breeding in the world. Effective conservation of wild camels would thus preserve an important global genetic resource. Therefore an urgent need for a project developing model conservation programs for wild camels in Mongolia exists. It would be important to create a safety net for wild camels by creating a well-managed, ex situ population for a captive breeding program for the species.

Goitred gazelles

Population surveys

• For Goitred gazelles there is a need for conducting population surveys to determine current conditions and threats.

Mongolian saiga

Improved management

• Major threats for the Mongolian saiga are inadequate or a lack of management in protected areas, and increased competition for water and pasture with domestic animals. In 1998 the WWF has started a Saiga conservation project. The objectives are: - improvement of protected area management - reduction of habitat loss through the domestic animal - initiating and implementing a Saiga reintroduction program The project is funded partly by the European Large Herbivore Foundation. It is important to continue the support.

Asiatic wild ass

Improved protected areas management to prevent illegal hunting

• There is a need for improvement of the protected areas management to prevent illegal hunting and to reduce habitat loss through the domestic animals for the Asiatic wild ass. Additionally, a need for detailed studies of population and habitat conditions exists.

Mongolian gazelle

Need for intensive population dynamics study to improve its hunting management

• For the Mongolian gazelle there is a need for intensive study of the population dynamics to improve its hunting management. Other questions are the migratory patterns of the gazelle, including seasonal variations, the location of the major birthing grounds, the major epidemic diseases and the contagion possibilities between gazelles and domestic animals. A comprehensive conservation management plan needs to be drawn up, which will include conservation of summer and winter grazing areas, migration corridors, and a sustainable use program.

Major threats

Major threats for large herbivores are loss of habitat because of livestock competition (overgrazing and water competition), poaching and poor wildlife management. The hunting law (June 1995) regulates wildlife management. Hunting of wild ass, Saiga, wild camel and goitred gazelle is illegal but law enforcement is poor. As there are few and badly equipped rangers and environmental inspectors there is no way of controlling how much poaching is actually going on.

Another big problem especially for the migrating ungulate species is the lack of cooperation between the neighbouring countries Mongolia, Russia and especially China. High fences at the Chinese border are blocking migratory routes. Population censuses cannot be coordinated, poaching not controlled cross-border.

The countries in the region have been undergoing considerable changes during the past years because of the changes in the economic system. Political and technological development have got going a climate for major development schemes, such as collectivisation, industrialization, up-turn of natural and fallow land, and privatisation. The tremendous level of social and economic change in recent years has strained traditional lifestyles, which has been associated with environmental degradation and have also led to a sharp decrease in funding for nature conservation activities.

A full analysis of the environment problems will be undertaken in the PDF-B phase of the GEF funding proposal to develop a complete "threats-underlying causes" analysis. This will form the basis for developing detailed interventions to be included in the full project.

Overgrazing by domestic animals

The extensive semi-nomadic grazing in the region is a major threat to the biodiversity in the eco-region, particularly in Mongolia and in the mixed-larch forest ecosystem in Russia and Kazakhstan. Livestock remains outside year-around and is allowed to free-range on dry pasture through most of the winter. This system leads to increasing conflicts between the wildlife including Snow leopard, Argali and many migratory birds and lifestock.

Deforestation (logging and fuelwood extraction)

Forests and most riparian habitats are heavily disturbed by fuelwood extraction and commercial logging. These activities are being encouraged by the privatisation of livestock and elimination of fuel subsidies along with the transition from planned to market economy.
Reforestation efforts have recently averaged only about 12,000 ha/year with effective fire control for only about 186,000 ha/year. Deforestation as well as overgrazing are recognized as the main causes of increased desertification in the region as well.

Poaching, hunting, and trade

Illegal trade of endangered species is a serious transboundary issue that threatens rare and endemic species. Concerned are Snow leopard, Argali, Mongolian saiga, and waterfowl during spring and autumn migration periods.
The Mongolian Altai region is considered as one of the world's best trophy hunting sites for Altai argali, Siberian ibex, and Mongolian elk. Hunting agencies operate organized trophy hunting tours, which bring no or very limited benefits to the local communities.

Mining exploitation and infrastructure projects

Although the Altai-Sayan eco-region is a relatively remote area, proposals for economic development activities like mining exploitation and construction increase every year. Recently, several requests have been made to the government to conduct mining explorations in the protected areas in the Altai-Sayan mountains.

The inappropriate development of hydroelectric power plants poses another threat to biodiversity in the region. There are numbers of ready-to-implement dam proposals in the region.

The proposed oil and gas pipelines development between China and Russia, which will go across the Mongolian territory could be another threat to the region. It could lead to the destruction of wildlife habitat, if not adequately planned and managed.

Uncontrolled tourism

Tourism is a growing concern and potential threat to the region. The Altai-Sayan mountain region, particularly in Russia and Mongolia, is becoming a popular place for a variety of recreational activities, including mountain hiking, whitewater rafting, biking and camping. Although the tourist numbers are still small, it could lead to significant habitat disturbance and waste problem due to poor tourism infrastructure in the area.