GEF-UNEP Reindeer Herding and Resilience Project With Field Work in Tsaganuur This Summer

The dramatic shift in land cover in Mongolia will have severe implications for peatland cover, sustainability, and management of nomadic peoples, together with related implications for the country’s hydrological regime. Last week GEF-UNEP Reindeer Herding and Resilience Project had a team working in the Dukha reindeer herders Taiga in Northern Mongolia, comprised of Dr Tsogtsaikhan Purev biologist, Aksel Akselsen Falkanger architect, Isaat Turi Saami reindeer herders and Khongorzul Mungunshagai, Dukha reindeer herder. As part of the GEF-UNEP Reindeer Herding and Resilience Project, they have conducted field work with focus in the dissemination of reindeer herders knowledge and will carry out a feasibility study about the Duhka Reindeer Herders Information Centre in Tsagaannuur, Mongolia, based on Indigenous reindeer herders’ traditional knowledge. The center will serve as a venue for dialogue between reindeer herders and other stakeholders and provide a future platform for reindeer herders. We believe it is vital to build Indigenous institutions so educated Dukha youth could return to their home communities.