National Report: Mongolia

Mongolia is one of the five countries in Northeast Asia who have expressed their interest to develop Tumen River area. Mongolia is represented in the TRADP by Eastern Mongolia which comprises three eastern provinces/aimags, namely Khenti, Sukhbaatar and Dornod.

In Eastern Mongolia, there are about 892 vascular plants, 458 species of algae, 71 species of mammals, 45 species of fish, 12 species of amphibians and reptilians and 327 species of birds. 8 mammal species and 6 species of Hymenoptera in the region have been listed as endangered animals in the Red Book of Mongolia. 15 species in the region have been listed as rare animals by order No. 152 of the Mongolian Government in 1995. Twenty-two species of birds in the region have been included in the Red Book of Mongolia which was published in 1997. Twenty-three higher plants out of 145 endemic species and 197 semi-endemic higher plants in the country have been recorded in Eastern Mongolia.

Home to 25 species of mammals and thousands of other animal and plant species, the Eastern Steppe is one of the world's last remaining temperate grasslands with an abundance of rare and threatened species, including a number of endangered mammals and birds. A number of important wildlife species in the Eastern Steppe is listed as rare, very rare or endangered in International and National Red Data Books. These include great bustard (Otis tarda), several species of crane, mandarin duck (Aix galericulata), relict gull (Larus relictus), swan goose (Cygnopsis cygnoides), white-tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra). A number of endemic species and subspecies are approaching extinction and can be found only in the Eastern Steppe. These include the alashanbeg elk (Cervus elaphus alashanicus), the rare Daurian hedgehog (Erinaceus dauricus), the Mongolian moose (Alces alces cameloides), the Asiatic grass frog (Rana chensinensis) and five species of reptiles.

Eastern Mongolia is famous by being home to about 2.0 million freely migrating gazelles. Little is known about the dynamics of gazelle populations and of sustainable limits of their annual off-take. Since the 1970s the government has issued permissions to hunt gazelles at between 10,000 and 60,000 heads annually. From 1995 the Government stopped permitting gazelle hunting. Today, gazelles remain only in about 38% of their original habitat, mostly in southern part of the Eastern Steppe; the majority is well outside existing protected areas. Their annual east-west migrations have been cut off by the Ulaanbaatar-Beijing railroad that has an impenetrable fence along side it. The government is considering creating underground passages beneath the railroad for the gazelle population.

According to Mongolian scientists, there is a growing evidence of fundamental changes in the Eastern Steppe ecosystems; some Mongolian scientists even go so far as to call it an ecological imbalance. There has been clear evidence of growing aridity in the Eastern Steppe during the last 70 years. The decreasing rainfall pattern and increasing dominance of Manchurian-type flora show this, and in particular of Stipa spp. which are taking over the more palatable and nutritious short grasses. In addition, there have been periodic (every decade or so) population booms of Brandt's vole. The population explosions are so severe that they force herders and gazelles out of the region in search of fodder.

The total amount of water resources of Mongolia is estimated at 34.6 km³, of which 6.69 km³ is in Khentii, 1.51 km³ in Dornod, 0.14 km³ in Sukhbaatar. These three aimags of Eastern Mongolia accounts for 24.1 % of the total amount of all river water resources in Mongolia. As of 1999, Khentii, Dornod and Sukhbaatar aimags exploited 0.72%, 4.7% and 13.6% of their water resources respectively. In Eastern Mongolia, there are 885 lakes and ponds of different sizes. 155 of them are in Khentii, 545 in Dornod (Eastern), 185 in Sukhbaatar. Most of them are closed and have no outflow. There are over 1000 wetlands in Eastern Mongolia including Buir lake, Khalkh, Yakhi, Dorgon, Ganga nuur, Mongol Daguur, Kherlen, Onon, Ulz, Balj, Nomrog, Degee, Khalkh rivers.

As of January 1st 2000, the total population of Eastern Mongolia: Dornod, Sukhbaatar, and Khentii aimags, which are included in the Tumen River Strategic Action Program, was 222.5 thousands.

At the end of 2000 in the 3 provinces of Eastern Mongolia there have been 850 industries and economic entities. 14.1 % of them are rural, forestry and hunting organizations, 14.9 % is processing industry, 1.6 % is mining, 2.6% is power stations, 4.0 % is constructing, 35.3% is commercial, 3.0% is hotels, restaurants, 7.3% is transporting and communicational, 2.3% is financial mediating, 4.0% immovable property, 8.2% is health, 2.7% is social service organizations. More than 90% of them are private organizations.

The top 4 industrial contributions to damage or pollute the environment in Eastern Mongolia are mining, oil exploration, thermal power plant and transportation while the natural contributions are climate change, wild fires, overgrazing, harmful rodents of pasture, soil erosion.

Priority impacts on both biodiversity and international waters have been identified by this report. The priority impacts on biodiversity are as follows:

• Destruction of habitat by cultivation, mining and transport;
• Poaching due to poor enforcement of laws;
• Over-utilization due to lack of species-population information to establish sensible harvest quotes or established quotas for political and economic reasons which ignore available population information;
• Overgrazing and desertification;
• Air and water pollution arising from increased industrialization and population growth;
• Climate change

The priority impacts on International waters are as follows:

• Discharge of different kinds of pollutants from settlements into rivers;
• Untreated or inadequately treated municipal sewage;
• Non-point sources such as storm water run-off in urban areas, flushing of livestock manure by rainfall and snow melt;
• Irrigation in the past has been caused some problems, especially in terms of water quantity.

To conserve biodiversity and to protect international waters in the region the following actions are recommended to be taken:

On biodiversity conservation:

• To ensure enforcement of laws and legislation regarding biodiversity conservation and the environment

• To prepare and implement regional united plan for managing land use and pasture utilization.

• To prepare and implement management plans for the protected areas for the purpose of protection of endangered, rare animals and plants and maintaining ecosystems of special importance in the eastern region

• To establish genetic resource of rare animals and plants

• To ensure regeneration of vegetation plants through plantation, reforestation and releasing degraded/overgrazed areas

• To stop utilization of trees and bushes of special importance for keeping sand and water and protecting soil cover as fuel and take measures to provide coal and compressed fuel for local citizens and organizations'

• To restore and cherish the traditional customs regarding conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity
• To continue implementation of the Mongolia Biodiversity Project and broaden the base of support within Government and the public. Particular areas for emphasis in implementation include: Integrating biodiversity conservation in land use and socio-economics; Establishment of Conservation areas and wildlife management programs; Training of professional staff and public education and awareness programs; Development of ecotourism as an alternative income generating opportunity for people affected by conservation measures; Strategic national planning, including preparation of a National Biodiversity Action Plan; and preparation of biodiversity conservation legislation.

• To improve monitoring of water quality (both chemical and bacteriological);
• To provide sanitary toilet facilities and waste disposal for the ger communities by improving the sewage and waste removal capabilities in the non-ger parts of the cities;
• To improve and expand the waste water treatment facilities;
• To reduce leakage and wastage of water in urban areas with installation of water metering devices and effective and equitable assignment of costs;
• To identify pollution mitigation measures in remote settlements: Provision of a mobile laboratory which can do chemical and bacteriological analyses of wells and surface water supplies for remote settlements; Identification and implementation of mitigation measures where pollution (including mineralization, etc.) exists;

Also, there have been identified other priority target areas which are:

• To complete drafting of new water law for submission to Parliament; develop regulations for implementation of the law; put the law into effect; Establish training programs for the personnel required to implement law;
• To take actions to improve water supply and to reduce the wastage of water in urban areas which may include the replacement of electric pumps and other capital works; a public awareness program on conserving water; an Emergency Leak Repair Program; introduction of water metering devices for, at least each apartment block in aimag centers; and a graduated steeply rising tariff for excessive per capita consumption of water;
• To undertake research to identify the location and estimated amounts of groundwater, giving priority to areas where local communities do not have adequate water; Establish a monitoring network based on wells, etc., of the amounts and quality of groundwater; and to develop regulations and standards for sustainable use of groundwater;
• To obtain or develop equipment for demineralization and soften water for rural water supplies, especially in the steppe areas where water quality is an important threat to health.

• To enlarge and improve existing forest nurseries and establish additional ones where needed; improve the genetic make-up of nursery stock;
• To implement the regulations, which require reforestation after logging, and protect newly reforested areas from livestock grazing;
• To develop and implement land use plans for each soum and aimag. Place land use planning experts in local government, and provide the necessary education and in-service training for them;
• To develop and implement legislation and regulations to establish land use fees, and establish a land restoration fund from the revenues. Develop the needed land restoration technologies.

• To develop and implement environmental master plan for industry sector and revise existing master plan and other action plans which deal with it; Develop staff capability to undertake industry-environment management; extend the national industry planning function to include environmental consideration and introduce advanced analytical tools for planning activity;
• To implement Industrial Siting Management: Prohibit single/poorly supported industrial development in high value areas, encourage industrial development and waste processing in degraded areas, Develop industrial siting concepts including estates;
• To strengthen Environmental Impact Assessment of Industry Projects: Train staff on EIA; develop sectoral EIA Guidelines and criteria for industrial development projects;
• To enforce ecological passport requirement for industry; develop permit system for industrial pollution; develop package of financial and economic incentives; establish clean technology information service;
• To improve Treatment Facilities: Require initial or otherwise adequate treatment of discharges; require regular maintenance of existing treatment facilities.
• To develop and implement waste management programs;
• To develop and upgrade emission/discharge standards; develop a monitoring program for waste discharges (installing monitoring equipment as necessary); provide training for staff, develop package of financial and economic incentives to reduce emissions and encourage recycling of wastes.

• To determine the extent and magnitude of tailings dust contamination and water pollution from mining operations, and undertake necessary actions to deal with the problem and achieve environmental restoration where needed;
• To assess the extent and magnitude of environmental damage from oil leakage and other activities associated with oil exploration, and institute the necessary programs to control the problems and make necessary restorations;
• To develop additional environmental standards and regulations where needed for waste management, pollution control and restoration of mining sites; Implement regular monitoring of enforcement; Develop relevant training programs for regulatory personnel;
• To develop funding for restoration and environmental management through bonding, environmental performance bonding, and compensation schemes and taxes, licensing; Monitor compliance with strict enforcement of regulations (suspension of license when there is non-compliance);
• To increase funds available for environmental management and restoration, improve the recovery of commercial mineral resources (e.g., more modern equipment, processes and technologies); Obtain more in-country value added (i.e., economic benefits to Mongolia from further processing and product finishing within the country rather than exporting raw materials for processing elsewhere) through incentives and export restrictions on unrefined or unfinished products;
• To establish laboratory facilities as necessary at areas of high mining activity, to facilitate monitoring and environmental assessment.

• To incorporate environmental considerations fully in the Transportation Master Plan and develop a comprehensive transportation policy, which incorporates environmental considerations.
• To inventory and evaluate air pollution sources from vehicles; develop a system to monitor motor vehicle pollutants; establish automatic air pollution monitoring station in aimag centers; establish emission standards for motor vehicles, develop a system of auto emission pollution taxes; reduce or prohibit lead compounds in motor vehicle fuel;
• To improve roads within cities;
• To improve rural road standards to restrict traffic to established roads (i.e., to reduce the damage to lands from the multiplication of dirt tracks).

The priorities required include (i) maintenance, reconditioning and where necessary, strengthening of existing solid waste collection vehicle fleet, (ii) review and development of opportunities for enhanced recovery of recyclable wastes from the waste stream; and (iii) evaluation of disposal options including the question of economic incentives, and development of sanitary disposal sites to handle domestic and industrial solid wastes incorporating appropriate environmental controls. There is also need to develop master plans for waste collection and disposal for each metropolitan area.

• To conduct a study and assessment to identify industries, etc., which have negative influence on human health (e.g., through emissions or discharges);
• To improve the outdoor toilets and waste receptacles in the ger areas.

• Maintain current organizational structure and system of organizations in charge of environmental affairs;
• Strengthen the material bases and improve the personnel capacity;
• Improve cooperation and relationship between organizations in the environmental field.

In addition, the following actions and interventions are required to raise public awareness:

• To review existing environmental programs to determine what needs to be done to avoid duplication or overlap and what additional public awareness and public education efforts are needed. Develop a master plan for environmental public awareness and education, showing what components are already under way and which ones require new or additional funding and effort;
• To review environmentally related Government laws, policies and regulations, and amend them as necessary to assure that adequate public participation is encouraged or mandated. Special attention should be given to EIA procedures and environmental project development and implementation. Widely publicize the opportunities for public participation in governmental environmental affairs;
• To implement a program for regular encouragement and facilitation of public and NGO initiatives in environmental activities, such as tree planting, river cleaning, and soil protection;
• To organize symposia, workshops, conferences and other meetings on environment, impact assessment and projects to encourage maximum public participation;
• To strengthen NGO participation in environmental activities such as implementation of public awareness, review of government programs, regulations, and EIA, and implementation of appropriate governmental environment projects. This requires a review of such programs to determine where there are opportunities for NG0s to participate, and then actively seeking such participation;
• To review existing Governmental activities in international cooperation in environmental affairs and, bearing in mind present Governmental capacities, determine where additional initiatives/actions are needed, particularly in terms of international environmental conventions and agreements (e.g., CITES, Migratory Birds and Animals, Desertification, World Heritage); Initiate action for Mongolia to become a party to appropriate international activities;
• To conclude agreements with neighboring and other states on environmental protection; Develop cooperation with international organizations and foreign states to combat natural disasters; Develop international cooperation to sustain ecological security; Jointly cooperate in the implementation of environmentally sound and sustainable development activities and policies with UN and other international organizations and states; Actively participate in international cooperation on demographic and social issues.