History of WWF Mongolia in context of Mongolia’s Conservation evolution 1992 – until present B.Chimed-Ochir, Country Representative 7 th February 2011, Ulaanbaatar

Content Institutional development Evolution of WWF’s conservation priorities in context of country’s situation Evolution of conservation community in Mongolia Major threats and future trend WWF’s niche and challenges WWF’s vision and must - win objectives

Institutional history 1992 – 1997: Project office with 3 staff 1997 – 2002: Country office with 9 staff (4 in field office Khovd) and registered as branch of international NGO in 1997 Since 2002: Programme office with 29 staff

Evolution of WWF’s priorities (1992 – 1997) The project “National parks of Mongolia”, financed WWF Germany ( ) –Establishment of new large scale PA –Support Government for identifying financial sources for PA development –Awareness and advocacy on PA’s First international NGO in Mongolia

Country’s situation Political and economical transition just started and lack of finance for everything Reform of environmental legislative acts Increased overall poverty level – migration from settlement to country site Freedom for travel - transboundary illegal trade with wildlife products increased Golden time for establishing large PA’s

Some success stories … Country’s PA network – WWF as major and single player Long-term contribution from Germany to nature conservation

Evolution of WWF’s priorities (1998 – 2002) First 5 years Conservation Programme with focus on: –Species conservation; Saiga and Snow leopard –PA management e.g. Khar Us Nuur NP –Establishment new PA’s Financial sources: WWF-DE, WWF-NL, WWF-AT, Messerli, Mava Ecoregional approach – Altai-Sayan

Country’s situation Livestock number reached historical height – 32 Millions Two following drought in summer and harsh winter – lost 9 million livestock Increased mining activities, especially gold

Some success stories … Shifting from establishment to management of PA Saiga population increased during the project implementation (1998 – 2001) First time involvement of locale people into Snow leopard conservation

Evolution of WWF’s priorities (2003 – 2007) 2 nd 5 years conservation programme Aligned with Global Programme: TDB and Ecoregion –Species, Freshwater, Forest, Toxic and Climate change –Altai-Sayan (80%) and Daurian (20%) ecoregions Major financial sources: WWF-SE and SIDA, WWF-DE, Hermsen and Otto foundation

Country’s situation (2003 – 2007) Individual Illegal mining so called “Ninjas” New dam projects Overgrazing and habitat competition Climate change Weak management policies and institutional framework - bad governance

Some success stories … Successful toxic campaign against massive use of rodenticide to control Brand’s vole Legislation adopting IRBM approaches EIA for Dorgon HPP Piloting community forestry in Khan Khokhie mountain range Mobile anti-poaching units in Western Mongolia

Evolution of WWF’s priorities (2006 – 2010) 3 rd Conservation programme – update of 2 nd CP in Ecoregions: Altai-Sayan and Daurian (later refocused on AHEC) with 3 pillars: –Priority/Flagship Species: Argali, Snow leopard, Saiga, Saker Falcon, Mongolian Antelope, Taimen –Freshwater conservation –With cross-cutting issues: ESD, habitat protection and management, policy advocacy, law enforcement Main approaches: CBNRM and IRBM Financial sources: WWF-SE, NL, US, DE, MAVA and JFPR/ADB

Country’s situation (2006 – 2010) Increased commodity price on world market e.g. copper, gold, coal etc Tremendous increase of state budget –Increased public concern on mining impacts and corruption Overgrazing and desertification (almost 70% of country) Climate change, specially in frequency of extreme events, biomass and freshwater

Evolution of conservation communities 1996 law on NGO More than 500 NGO but still weak … 2 international NGO; TNC and WCS (+TAF) Major players are GTZ, UNDP, SDC, (NL) ADB and WB integrated in sector development Public movements against mining activities

Major threats and future trend Mining development and large investment: –Threats: Lot of money and corruption, freshwater ecosystem degradation, habitat fragmentation –Opportunity: Social and environmental responsibility due to public reputation and increased funding Livestock sector and NR management: –Threats: desertification, degradation and habitat loss –Opportunity: dependencies of livelihood Climate change impacts: –Forest, freshwater, pasture and vulnerability of livelihoods

Possible priority actions… For mining sector: –Biodiversity offset programme –Transparency and public involvement For livestock sector: –Integrated policy and market based approaches for sustainable rangeland management –Increased local community stewardship for their natural environment e.g. CBNRM

WWF’s niche and challenges WWF’s niche: –Well known and high reputation –Local presences and competent staff Challenges: –Flexibility and multi disciplinary team –Increased competition for funding –Building strategic partnership with development institutions and corporate sector

WWF’s vision and must – win objectives: To ensure local community stewardship for their natural environment