Title: Improving rangeland management through herders' involvement - the case of Khongor soum in Mongolia

Abstract

Around 75% of Mongolian territory is classified as rangeland. These rangelands are grazed by domestic livestock, owned by Mongolian herders. After the collapse of the socialist system in 1990 no regulations on rangeland management were in place and the number of livestock increased substantially, resulting in rangeland degradation. For the last years, the Mongolian government, in collaboration with several donor programs, have established formal local herder groups where the herders directly contribute to rangeland management. Even though these groups have operated for less than 10 years, investigation shows that they have in some cases already improved the institutional capacity within the areas where they have operated. Although 50% of the territory of Khongor soum, one of the regions in Mongolia, is comprised by rangelands, the soum is classified as an agricultural area and is thus not eligible to participate in one of these rangeland management programs run by the government.

In this report, herders and key governmental officials were asked about their perception of rangeland conditions and rangeland management practices within Khongor soum. Furthermore, they were asked if they would support the establishment of formal herder groups in the area, in line with the governmental projects already in place in some other regions of Mongolia.

Herders and local government officials agreed and supported the importance of herders’/users’ active involvement in rangeland management and decision making.
Nevertheless, they do not have a clear idea or plan for how to structure such a management scheme, so they are waiting for actions or interventions initiated by a third party.