Strengthening nomadic herders’ traditional user groups for sustainable rangeland management in Mongolia Ts. Enkh-Amgalan, Green Gold Project Manager

Content Brief about Mongolia Nomadic livestock herding in Mongolia Main challenges Green Gold Project interventions Results and lessons learned

Territory: million ha Population: 2.8 Million Ethnicity:96 % Mongolian nationals, 4 % ethnic minorities (Kazakh) Main religionBuddism Literacy rate: 97 % Mongolia in Brief Political system: Democratically elected parliamentarian system with 4 year tenure (76 seats) Economic growth :Annually 11.0 % (mining, agriculture, trade/ services, construction)

Nomadic livestock herding in Mongolia Rangeland: million ha (72% of total land territory) Herders: About (30% of total population) Total livestock: 50 millions heads (camel, horse, cattle, yak, sheep, goat) Percentage in GDP: 20% Job places: 40% of total employment Rural income: 70%

Major challenges  Loss of traditional rotational/resting grazing technology maintained by traditional/customary organization and arrangements  Lack of enforcement of rangeland management regulation by the state  Overstocking (lack of market access)  Increasing degradation of rangelands (70 % )  Increasing vulnerability of herding livelihood to climatic risks

Relevant state policy Targeted subsidy – Raw material supply (price topping) – Cooperative development – Domestic processing/value addition Fiscal decentralization (Local Development Funds) – Local decision making – Legalizing community participation – Specific budget line (30% for environmental management) – Participatory monitoring and assessment

Rangeland management in Mongolia & Green Gold Project interventi on Implementation Мonitoring Planning Pasture User Groups Bagh Admin Soum Admin Planning Implementation PUG Soum land manager, Bagh/Soum governor Env inspectors, Bagh/Soum Governors Soum land manager Association of PUGs, Meteorology and land manager 1 Community level capacity development 2 Government capacity development

Community level capacity development Strengthening customary organization and arrangements of herding community for improved range management

Traditional User Groups in Mongolia Hot ail (3-5 families) sharing winter/spring rangelands WinterSpring Summer Autumn Neg golliinhon (I water access) Neg nutag (one valley) Ail saahaltiinhan (1 neighbourhood) Soum territory

Step 1. Fostering team work (1 st – 3 rd year)  Community definition and agreement on seasonal grazing boundaries  Define and agree on membership of the User Groups  User Groups adopt rangeland management plan  User Groups adopt internal regulation  Leadership  Herders Matching Fund (50/50)

Step 2: Fostering formalization of User Groups (3.5 th -5 th year)  Resolution by Soum Governor (grazing territory/boundary, name, members, livestock number)  User Groups negotiate Land Use Agreement with Soum Governor -User rights -Responsibilities -Grazing plan/investment -Monitoring

Step 3: Integration into Soum annual land management/investment planning (4 th year- onwards)  User Groups submit range management plans to Bagh Citizens Meeting for approval  Bag Governor submits approved User Groups range management plans to Soum Citizens Meeting for approval  Soum Citizens Meeting approved and orders Soum Governor to include User Groups plan in the Soum annual land management/investment plan

Brief about results: large scale community mobilization PUGs HF Soum APUGs Soum APUGs Aimag Federation of APUGs National Federation of PUGs - Emerging demand and initiatives for lobby, and policy dialogue with Government - 7 Aimag Federations of Pasture User Groups - 93 Soum Associations of Pasture User Groups - About 960 Pasture User Groups of Herder families - About Herder families

Brief about results: Increased community participation  470 User Groups established land use agreement with Soum Government  32 Soums adopted PUG based soum annual rangeland management and investment planning  Reduced conflicts among herders with access to rangeland resources  Division of rights and responsibilities between users (herders) and owner (government)  Increased investment for improved rangeland management

PUG Statutory Government Functions Policy, legal framework Pasture land mapping and planning, management of reserved pasture Handing over of use rights on pasture land to PUGs Supervision of pasture management plan implementation Conflict resolution Agencies Bag, Soum, Aimag Government Technical Offices Central Government Support Services Group formation and strengthening Technical input, supply Infrastructure Veterinary services Animal Insurance Value chain Financial services Research/Extension Possible service providers: Professional NGOs Private sector/Banks PUG and Federations (services for others) Government Local and Regional PUG Associations National PUG Federation Pasture Land Management in Mongolia: Institutional Vision Sub- Groups Facilitation, Advocacy Herder Groups Interest Groups Brief about results: Bottom-up, participatory and self governing herders’ institutional development

Brief about results: Reflected in the national policy  Consensus on the concept for collective user rights for herders  Government subsidy is channelled through herder cooperatives/APUGs  Community participation, monitoring and control is secured in the fiscal decentralization policy  Recognition of community groups’ role in rural extension and service provision

Lessons learned: 1.Local ownership 2.Process oriented approach 3.Flexibility & Time 3.Using economic incentives 4. Favourable government policy

Thank you for your attention!