WORLD WATER DAY

March 22, 2011 was

World Water Day

(WWD). This year’s

theme was Water for

Cities. The United Na-

tions General Assembly

declared March 22 as

World Water Day and

the first WWD was ob-

served in 1993. The day

is used by many inter-

national NGOs as well as

other organizations to

set up their own water

related activities to pro-

mote water awareness.

NEMO2 hired consult-

ants to organize activi-

ties to advocate the

value of water to the

public. Their activities

evolved around WWD

and included putting up

information boards in

the city, posters on

buses, a drawing com-

petition for children, a

television program, and

lessons on how to save

water for school chil-

dren.

Access to clean water is

projected to become a

major issue for many

countries in the future.

Water is also a concern

for Mongolia. In the

case of Ulaanbaatar the

Upper Tuul watershed

is of big importance.

According to the NEMO

report “The Economic

Value of the Upper Tuul

Watershed”, the Tuul

River provides water to

more than a million peo-

ple, 20,000 industries

and businesses, 400

hectares of irrigated

farms, 330,000 livestock

and 3 power plants in

Ulaanbaatar. However,

the Upper Tuul ecosys-

tem is rapidly degrad-

ing and if no additional

conservation measures

are put into action,

groundwater tables will

likely drop.

Not only water supply is

a concern; further deg-

radation of ecosystems

would also lead to

losses of pasture and

forest products. The

collective value of these

losses would have a sig-

nificant impact on Mon-

golia’s economy. It is,

therefore, necessary to

invest in conservation

plans. The report shows

that every tugrug in-

vested in conservation

has the potential to gen-

erate economic bene-

fits of more than 400

tugrug each year. The

challenge however is to

give an incentive to the

users of the Upper Tuul

ecosystem to focus on

the long term instead of

the short term. This is

clearly easier said than

done.

In order to create a sys-

tem in which both users

of the Upper Tuul eco-

system upstream and

downstream can benefit,

NEMO2 is currently

looking into Payment

for Ecosystem Ser-

vices (PES). According

to the International Un-

ion for Conservation of

Nature (IUCN), PES

“involves efforts to de-

velop systems in which

land users are paid for

the ecosystem services

they generate”. The

main principle is that

people who provide eco-

system services

(upstream in this case)

should be rewarded for

doing so and the people

who use those ecosys-

tem services should pay

for that provision. So far

a working group has

been set up and two

meetings have been

held. Theoretical and

practical information on

PES, such as best cases,

are being gathered and

disseminated among the

working group mem-

bers. In the second

quarter of 2011 a study

tour will be organized as

well.

WATER

Volume 4

March 2011

Inside this issue:

WATER 1

AIR POLLUTION/

BUDDHISM CONSERVA-

TION PLAN

2

ENVIRONMENTAL MAS-

TER PLAN/WILDLIFE/

GENETIC RESOURCES

3

WHAT DO YOU THINK? 4

SMALL GRANTS

PROGRAM/MARMOTS 5

NEMO HISTORY/

PUBLICATIONS 6

NEMO2 TEAM/CONTACT

INFORMATION 6

NEMO2 Newsletter Welcome!

The Netherlands Mongolia Trust Fund for Environmental Reform,

Phase 2 (NEMO2) has entered its last year and has already

achieved a lot since its start in 2007. In this quarterly newsletter

we will keep you updated about what is going on. Have a look at

page 4 for our new feature. Hope you enjoy the read!

• Want to know what NEMO2 is about? Read more on page 6.

The Winning Drawing

The magazine Green

Findings has interviewed

Mr. Ch. Jargalsaikhan, the

Vice Minister of Nature,

Environment and Tourism

and National Project Di-

rector for the NEMO2 pro-

ject on the subject of air

pollution. Here we provide

you with a small abstract.

What actions are

needed in the future?

Everyone’s effort is re-

quired to live in a healthy

and safe environment. We

must develop policies at

all levels. We now have a

law. Let’s all implement

this approved law. Fur-

thermore, it is important

to apply appropriate tech-

nological solutions to

solve certain objectives,

encourage increased and

active participation of

civil society organizations

and consider the possibili-

ties where citizens can

pay fees or fines. Realistic

results will be achieved by

combining the variety of

activities to be imple-

mented in the framework

of objectives targeted to

reduce the air pollution in

Ulaanbaatar city. There is

a survey named

“Environment and Natural

Resource Management

Socio-Economic Survey

for Mongolia” that has

been implemented nation-

wide by our project in cooperation with the

National Statistical Office. During the survey

when we conducted a questionnaire, every

citizen and household was interested to be in-

volved and had possibilities to give donations.

As the people’s consciousness is improving and

public participation in solving the problem is

increasing, I am optimistic that we can re-

duce the air pollution in the near future.

Find out more about air pollution on

worldbank.org/nemo.

cation and the media.

Two special initiatives are

mentioned: the first on

water and mining, the

second on khadags

(traditional scarves). The

first covers activities such

as “carrying out research

on mining licenses that

are obtained for explora-

tion in worshipped areas

such as mountains,

Ovoos, and water; have

an influence with authori-

ties on canceling and re-

consideration of permits”,

and supervising and pro-

tecting commonly wor-

shipped areas.

The second initiative fo-

cuses on the use of kha-

dags, the traditional

scarves. These are usu-

ally made of nylon which

is non-biodegradable. As

seen all over Mongolia,

khadags are tied to al-

most everything such as

bridges, fences, and

trees. The latter causes

serious problems by in-

hibiting the tree’s

growth. To help prevent

this problem the special

initiative raises aware-

ness of the problem, cre-

ates special khadag poles

where people can tie

their khadags, and pro-

motes the use of silk or

other eco-khadags.

If you want to know

more about the con-

tent and the imple-

menting structure of

the Mongolian Bud-

dhist Eight-Year Con-

servation Plan then

have a look under pub-

lications at world-

bank.org/nemo.

On March 10, 2011 the

Abbot of Gandanteg-

chenlin Monastery Ven-

erable Choijamts Dem-

berel invited members of

the Ministry of Nature,

Environment and Tour-

ism, international organi-

zations, and Embassies

to the presentation of the

NEMO2 funded publica-

tion “Mongolian Bud-

dhist Eight-Year Con-

servation Plan” at Gan-

dan monastery.

The initiative for this plan

was taken by the United

Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) and

the Alliance of Religions

and Conservation (ARC),

which challenged every

major religion to come

up with a long term ac-

tion plan for conserva-

tion. So far 30 major re-

ligions have done so. The

involvement of religion in

climate change and other

issues is regarded as

very important.

The Mongolian Buddhist

Eight-Year Plan covers

many future activities

to be implemented

through traditions, edu-

BUDDHISM EIGHT-YEAR CONSERVATION PLAN

AIR POLLUTION INTERVIEW WITH MNET VICE MINISTER JARGALSAIKHAN

Page 2 NEMO2 Newsletter

Volume 4

Nylon khadags

tied to trees can

inhibit the trees’

growth as they

are non-

biodegradable.

Venerable Bayambajav Khun-khur (right) Presented the Plan with Translation by

Munkhbaatar

Khadag Tied to a

Tree

Mr. Ch. Jargal-

saikhan, MNET

Vice Minister and

NEMO2 National

Project Director

One of the ongoing activi-

ties of NEMO2 is assisting

in formulating a National

Environmental Master

Plan for the country. This

plan will cover environ-

mental objectives for

Mongolia through 2021.

On March 7, 2011 a con-

sultation meeting was

held to discuss the draft

“Strategy on Environ-

mental Policy Reform –

2021”. Members from the

government, international

organizations, and em-

bassies were invited to

raise their comments and

questions in an effort to

further improve the docu-

ment. A presentation was

held and a Q&A session

followed. All participants

were asked to send in

their written comments

before March 16, 2011 so

these could be incorpo-

rated into the document

quickly. Work on an ac-

tion plan will follow as

the policy document will

be used as the basis for

realistic environmental

action in the coming

years.

Livestock production

remains the main eco-

nomic activity for most of

the inhabitants of the

Southern Gobi region. The

region also provides an

important habitat for

many wildlife species

among which the Khulan.

Since the transition in

1990 many wildlife spe-

cies populations have

been in decline due to

several reasons: human

induced changes, legal

and illegal over-hunting,

and the increase in live-

stock in the same areas.

The wild camel, the snow

leopard and Wild Ass are

listed as endangered on

the Regional Red List.

Although the latter has

the capacity to travel, the

increasing numbers of

herders and livestock

have made it more diffi-

cult for Wild Ass to find

forage and water. Water

is the biggest determinant

for people and animal dis-

tribution in the Southern

Gobi Region.

Development also has a

big influence on livestock

and wildlife. Although

positive impacts such as

ecotourism might offer

benefits, the negative

impacts of development

are likely higher. These

include interference with

wildlife mobility and an

increased rate of human

intrusion. A last concern

is climate change which

impacts the increase in

desert land cover types

through a higher mean

annual air temperature.

Taking all the above fac-

tors in consideration it is

important to start plan-

NEMO2 has funded sev-

eral publications on the

Southern Gobi region and

the latest focuses on live-

stock and wildlife with

special attention to Khu-

lan or Wild Ass. The re-

port looks at the impact

of certain issues such as

economic development

and climate change on

the status, trends and

likely development paths

of these animals.

ENVIRONMENTAL MASTER PLAN

LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE IN THE SOUTHERN GOBI

Page 3

Members of the Mongolian Govern-ment, Netherlands Embassy Liaison Office, and the World Bank at the

Consultation Meeting.

ning, to identify meas-

ures to avoid and miti-

gate negative impacts,

and to determine actions

to facilitate adaptation to

ensure the sustainable

use of the area by all par-

ties. Different stake hold-

ers such as the govern-

ment, civil society and

local inhabitants all need

to be involved. The report

highlighted how herders

can play a significant role

in the future of the Wild

Ass and other wildlife.

Attitudes towards Wild

Ass and issues such as

hunting could greatly in-

fluence Wild Ass and

other wildlife.\If you

want to find out more

about wildlife in the

Southern Gobi please

have a look on world-

bank.org/nemo.

Biodiversity is diminishing all

over the world and to counter

that development the Conven-

tion on Biological Diversity

(CBD) was put into force in 1993

with the objective of conserving

and sustainably using biological

diversity (components), as well

as fair and equitable sharing of

benefits arising from genetic re-

sources. The Nagoya Protocol,

a supplementary agreement to

the CBD, was adopted in October

2010 to provide a transparent le-

gal framework for the fair and eq-

uitable benefit sharing of benefits

arising from genetic resources.

The protocol has been approved

by the Mongolian government, but

not yet signed. Additionally, under

NEMO2, a new Mongolian law

on the protection of genetic

resources, their sustainable use

and equitable benefits sharing has

been drafted by a team of national

and international consultants. In

order to gather more information

a delegation visited the Philippines

in December 2010 as this country

adopted an Access and Benefit

Sharing (ABS) law in 2000 with a

revision in 2005.

The final report and the final draft

law were submitted to the Min-

istry of Nature, Environment

and Tourism in March 2011. It is

hoped that the law will be ratified

soon.

GENETIC RESOURCES LAW

Khulan (by Axel

Braunlich/WSCC of

Mongolia)

We asked two students from

the Institute for Education and

Training to tell us what they

think about environment.

We spoke to Bujinlkham who

is 30 years old and works as a

general manager for Monnis

Group; and to Batkhishig who

is also 30 years old and works

as a lawyer for the Centre for

Human Rights and Develop-

ment.

N EMO : W h a t d o e s

‘environment’ and more

specifically ‘Mongolian envi-

ronment’ make you think

of?

Batkhishig: The environment

should be everybody’s concern

as we have only one world. It

is an essential issue especially

for young people. Not polluting

is an obligation. The Mongolian

environment is facing many

different issues such as air and

water pollution, mining, the

use of chemicals, and waste

management.

Bujinlkham: Mongolia has one

of the wildest environments in

the world. We have to protect

it.

NEMO: How do nature and

its protection play a role in

your daily life?

Bu: I try to use less water and

in summer I try to avoid driv-

ing. Riding a bike is good for

my health and for the environ-

ment. However, I think that

most people do not have enough

knowledge of environmental is-

sues and what they can do them-

selves.

Ba: If they are not necessary I

turn off the lights. I also try not

to use too much water and use

public transportation when I can.

I don’t throw waste outside.

NEMO: What should be done

to increase environmental

protection?

Ba/Bu: Education and training on

environmental issues should be

provided by the government and

NGOs.

Ba: If not, problems such as de-

forestation and desertification

will persist. Legal responsibility is

also important. There are a lot of

law violations without retribution,

for example in the mining sector.

There should be a better imple-

mentation mechanism.

Bu: It is also not always clear

who exactly is polluting, for ex-

ample in the case of air pollution.

This makes it more difficult to

punish those that are responsi-

ble.

NEMO: How should the differ-

ent impacts from mining,

such as economic growth and

environmental damage, be

managed?

Ba: Mining should be further de-

veloped in a sustainable way.

Although mining is crucial for

economic growth it carries with it

serious negative impacts for the

environment. We need to keep

the guilty ones responsible.

Existing regulation, in my opin-

ion, should however be im-

proved further.

Bu: Although I’d rather not see

mining at all it could help in de-

veloping the country. However

this can only happen with smart

policies in place which I don’t

think is the case at the moment.

NEMO: Where do you see the

Mongolian environment in

ten years?

Bu: Although there are a lot of

issues I still see a bright future

with a green city. As the Mongo-

lian population has a high per-

centage of people below the age

of 18 I think they can make a

difference.

Ba: Ten years might be a bit too

short to erase the impacts of

environmental pollution. I can-

not see a good policy in place

but I can see the government is

trying. However, issues such as

corruption still remain.

Ba/Bu: Environmental issues

should be a bigger priority for

the Mongolian government.

NEMO: What is your favorite

place in Mongolia?

Bu: Khovsgol aimag. I really like

the fresh lake.

Ba: Selenge aimag. The nature

there is so beautiful with its for-

ests and nice landscapes.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Page 4 NEMO2 Newsletter

Volume 1, Issue 1

Batkhishig and

Bujinlkham

On March 30, 2011 an open day was held at the

Open Society Forum in Ulaanbaatar to give this

year’s recipients the chance to introduce their

projects. This last round of small grants was

announced at the end of November 2010 and

the deadline for submitting proposals was on

January 7, 2011. Proposals were reviewed and

evaluated by a committee of members from the

Open Society Forum, several NGOs, and the Min-

istry of Nature, Environment and Tourism. Of the

numerous applications received, 36 were se-

lected for grants from USD 360 up to USD

17,719 USD. Of those 36 projects thirteen were

projects that had already received grants under

previous Small Grants Program rounds. This

year’s selection focused on projects located in

remote areas of Mongolia.

As in previous years, this

year’s projects covered a wide

range of issues from prevent-

ing fires to combating de-

sertification. The latter is

taking place for example in

Uvs aimag, Umnu Gobi sub-

aimag. In this area 80,000 ha

have already been affected by

desertification. Herders are

being forced to migrate fur-

ther to find water for their

animals. The project works

together with the local gov-

ernment to protect three

wells. They have also been

working on outreach and ad-

vocacy.

Another project is the

“International Standards

Compliance Monitoring by

Indigenous Communities”

to be implemented by Oyu

Tolgoi Watch. They will focus

on capacity building of local

communities so they can un-

derstand and use international

human rights and environ-

mental instruments and stan-

dards through training and

information provision. The

project involves five soums

in mining impacted areas.

Monitoring units will be

established to check

whether environmental

standards are adhered to

by mining companies. The

units will also be taught

how to use complaint

mechanisms in the case of

non compliance. The pro-

ject representative at the

open day felt that

“businesses react to de-

mand so we want to create

a demand for compli-

ance” and that the objec-

tive of this project was to

teach people how to articu-

late that demand.

To find out more about

the 2010 projects have

a look at the Final Moni-

toring Report 2010 on

worldbank.org/nemo.

increasing state intervention

in hunting management was

reversed and marmot hunt-

ing rapidly increased caus-

ing a significant drop in

marmot resources. Be-

tween 1990 and 2010 the

marmot distribution areal in

Mongolia decreased by

53%. Since 2005 commer-

cial and household hunting

of marmots has been pro-

hibited. This (extended)

prohibition will last until

the end of 2012.

The report also discusses

community-based natural

resource management. This

concept involves local

communities in the con-

servation and monitoring of

the marmot. The report pro-

poses transferring certain

responsibilities and obliga-

tions concerning natural

resources, such as monitor-

ing the natural resource and

Between June and De-

cember 2010 the Mongo-

lian Marmot Conservation

Society (MMCS) con-

ducted a study on mar-

mots. The key objectives

were to determine the

current distribution of the

marmot through partici-

patory monitoring and to

create a database of mar-

mot resources.

More than 3400 people

from 16 aimags and 218

soums were involved in

the questionnaires, 608

maps of marmot distribu-

tion and density were

produced, and a simplified

marmot resource method-

ology was developed.

As in the case of the Wild

Ass, Mongolia’s transi-

tion from socialism to

democracy in the 1990’s

has not done the marmot

much good. The trend of

stopping illegal activities, from the soum au-

thorities to local communities. The report

finds that participatory monitoring is less

costly than conventional methods for nation-

wide monitoring of marmot resources. The

results of these methods can be of great sig-

nificance in developing policies to protect

marmots.

For more information on marmots and

the methods used for their monitoring

please have a look at the Mongolian full

report and the English summary on

worldbank.org/nemo.

SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM LAST ROUND

MARMOTS

Page 5

Participants at the Small Grants

Program Open Day

Marmot (by Ya. Adiya)

NEMON Newsletter

Volume 3

Netherlands Mongolia Trust Fund for Environmental Reform, Phase 2

The Netherlands Mongolia Trust Fund for Environmental

Reform, Phase 1 (NEMO1) was set up in 2005. The sec-

ond phase (NEMO2), which was initiated in 2007 with

an allocation of 5 million USD, will last until the end of

2011. The Trust Fund, provided by the Dutch Govern-

ment, is administered by the World Bank and together

with the Government of Mongolia the following areas

of focus were agreed: 1) environmental resource man-

agement, 2) pollution management, and 3) environ-

mental governance. All topics discussed in this newslet-

ter are part of these categories.

• For more information on NEMO2 and the results of

NEMO1 have a look on worldbank.org/nemo.

NEMO2 History

This March Galkhuu Davaasambuu left the NEMO2 Team. We would like to thank him for all he has contributed and meanwhile welcome Zorigoo as the new Finance Manager. The NEMO2 team Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism Ch. Jargalsaikhan, Vice Minister MNET, National Project Director Enkhee Devee, Project Coordinator MNET Executed Component Enkhtsetseg Ayur, Project Coordinator WB Executed Component Zorigoo Rinchin, Financial Officer World Bank James Reichert, Team Task Leader Erdene-Ochir Badarch, Environmental Officer Susanne Roelofs, Program Facilitator Contact Information Susanne Roelofs L. Munhzul (Communication Officer MNET) sus_roelofs@hotmail.com info@mne.gov.mn - www.mne.mn 95738832 11260718 - 88119821

WORLDBANK.ORG/NEMO

Publications Online: Several publications are already online and many more will follow (most are in

English and Mongolian):

- NEMO2 Quarterly Report December 31, 2010

- NEMO2 Quarterly Report March 31, 2011 (available soon)

- Participatory Monitoring of Marmot Distribution and Resources in Mongolia

- The Economic Value of the Upper Tuul Ecosystem (also brochures and ppts)

- Safeguarding Important Areas of Natural Habitat in Mongolia alongside Economic Development

NEMO2 Team & Contact Information