Responsible Nomads, in the Land of Green Gold

While 76.9% of Mongolia’s rangelands are affected by desertification, tens of thousands of herders, scientists and entrepreneurs are working to reverse the trend. Their approach is simple. Raise fewer animals, but increase the value of livestock products in order to reduce pressure on the rangelands and enable nomadic herders to make a better living from their herds. Since the end of the collectivist system in 1991, Mongolian herders have become the owners of their livestock and have had to adapt to market forces. Over the past thirty years, the national herd has grown from around 30 million to nearly 75 million animals. This increase, driven in particular by global demand for cashmere, has intensified pressure on rangelands already weakened by climate change. To address the crisis, the “Responsible Nomads” programme is helping herders adopt a different approach to pastoralism. Across the valleys, they are joining forces to manage their rangelands collectively, adjust herd sizes, rest certain grazing areas and restore a more traditional pattern of mobility. Animal health and welfare have also become key priorities. But the real revolution is economic. Wool, cashmere, hides, horsehair and yak fibres can now be better valued and sold directly to businesses. Thanks to traceability, a QR code can even identify the herder who supplied the raw material and provide information about the conditions in which it was produced. In Mongolia, protecting the steppe could therefore become a source of income rather than a constraint. A way of saving both the “green gold” and the nomadic way of life that depends on it.

1. 

   1
2. 

   2
3. 

   3
4. 

   4
5. 

   5
6. 

   6
7. 

   7
8. 

   8
9. 

   9
10. 

    10
11. 

    11
12. 

    12
13. 

    13
14. 

    14
15. 

    15
16. 

    16
17. 

    17
18. 

    18
19. 

    19
20. 

    20
21. 

    21
22. 

    22
23. 

    23
24. 

    24
25. 

    25
26. 

    26
27. 

    27
28. 

    28
29. 

    29
30. 

    30
31. 

    31
32. 

    32
33. 

    33
34. 

    34
35. 

    35
36. 

    36
37. 

    37
38. 

    38
39. 

    39
40. 

    40
41. 

    41
42. 

    42
43. 

    43
44. 

    44
45. 

    45
46. 

    46
47. 

    47
48. 

    48
49. 

    49
50. 

    50
51. 

    51
52. 

    52
53. 

    53
54. 

    54
55. 

    55
56. 

    56
57. 

    57
58. 

    58
59. 

    59
60. 

    60
61. 

    61
62. 

    62
63. 

    63
64. 

    64
65. 

    65
66. 

    66
67. 

    67
68. 

    68
69. 

    69
70. 

    70
71. 

    71
72. 

    72
73. 

    73
74. 

    74
75. 

    75
76. 

    76
77. 

    77
78. 

    78
79. 

    79
80. 

    80
81. 

    81
82. 

    82
83. 

    83
84. 

    84
85. 

    85
86. 

    86
87. 

    87
88. 

    88
89. 

    89
90. 

    90
91. 

    91
92. 

    92
93. 

    93
94. 

    94
95. 

    95
96. 

    96
97. 

    97
98. 

    98
99. 

    99
100. 

     100
101. 

     101
102. 

     102
103. 

     103
104. 

     104
105. 

     105
106. 

     106