SLP-II closing national workshop held
The workshop titled “Pastureland and risk management experiences: key outcomes and further objectives” was organized on 7 March 2012 involving representatives of the Parliament, MOFALI, Agency for Land Relations, Construction, Geodesy and Cartography (ALRCGC), NAMHEM, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and some international donor projects active in pastureland management. Each of 21 aimags was represented by heads of aimag Land Agency, aimag Authority for Food, Agriculture and SME (AFASME) and aimag SLP-II project coordinators. In addition land officers or officer in charge of pastures from soum Veterinary and Breeding Unit (VBU) from demo soums in 8 aimags covered by SLP-I.
The workshop summarized the key SLP-II outcomes as follows:
1. Full package of pastureland use maps prepared for all 187 soums of 13 aimags and delivered each hard and soft copies to MOFALI, ALRCGC, aimag land agency and soum governments
2. Land use maps and pastureland vegetation maps prepared for all 143 soums of 8 aimags covered by SLP-I and delivered to all bodies mentioned above
3. Full package of pastureland use maps prepared for demo soums of 8aimags and delivered to bodies mentioned above
4. Built soum capacities for developing and implementing a soum annual pastureland management plan using bottom-up and participatory approach (based on herders proposals and discussions at bag meetings). This capacity building activity covered land and agricultural agencies of 21 aimags, land officers, soum VBU officers, environmental inspectors of all soums
5. Built soum capacities for developing and implementing a soum risk management plan using bottom-up and participatory approach (based on herders proposals and discussions at bag meetings) in all soums
6. Prepared a user-friendly computer software BST-1.0 to be used in developing a soum annual pastureland management plan and organized training to use it in all soums
7. Demonstrated the feasibility of a decentralized a model for financing soum pastureland and risk management plans by providing MNT 60-80 m to demo soums and MNT 4-7 m to other soums
8. Introduced ways to disseminate locally-tested pastureland and risk management best practices in demo soums
9. Built capacities of land agencies in all aimags to use ArcGIS software for updating pastureland mapping prepared under the project
10. Equipped land agencies of all aimags with A0 size map printer/plotter
11. Equipped all soums with GPS
12. Provided barometers to 106 soums in 11 aimags
13. Launched a model for enforcingproject-tested sustainable pastureland and risk management practices at all levels of the government by developing sample pastureland and risk management functions and incorporating them into output contracts of relevant officials starting from bag Governors to central government agencies
14. Successfully tested the feasibility of a proxy grazing fee system – an essential economic tool to enforce sustainable use of pastures in 4 soums representing key ecological regions in Mongolia
15. Defined key challenges faced with the institutionalization of the project-promoted sustainable pastureland and risk management at all levels and recommendations to address them
16. Prepared numerous manuals and handouts to be used nationwide in promoting sustainable models of pastureland and risk management and organized extensive promotions campaigns through mass media
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The workshop proposed the following as key objectives in promoting further sustainable pastureland and risk management:
1. Continue to make best efforts to ensure technical, institutional and financial sustainability of the project-promoted sustainable pastureland and risk management model at all levels (Manual “Pastureland and risk management experiences: key outcomes and further objectives”, chapters 1.1-1.4, 1.4.3)
2. Intensify pastureland use agreements between herders groups and soum governors as an essential tool to address key problems – the tragedy of commons, increasing inequality in land tenure including expanding mining rights against shrinking herders’ rights, and chronic degradation of pastureland resources (Manual “Pastureland and risk management experiences: key outcomes and further objectives”, chapter1.4, pp 20-24)
3. Introduce grazing fee system as an essential economic tool to enforce pastureland use agreements, discourage human misbehavior and encourage best practices in the pastureland use (Manual “Pastureland and risk management experiences: key outcomes and further objectives”, chapters 1.4, 2.1.1, pp 24-25, 56-60)
4. Promote livestock intensification in feasible ways as a good opportunity for the livestock sector growth by reducing dependency on harsh natural conditions and improving livestock productivity (Manual “Pastureland and risk management experiences: key outcomes and further objectives”, chapter 2.3, 65-73)
5. Promote and replicate the project-tested soum livestock risk management fund using proxy-grazing fee system as a way to augment budget funding[1] by herders’ contributions and create their commitment on the best use of resources (Manual “Pastureland and risk management experiences: key outcomes and further objectives”, chapter 2.1.1, pp 57-60, Appendix 2.1, pp 96-111)
6. Introduce incentive mechanisms to promote innovation in pastureland and risk management like a soum innovation fund to finance innovative grassroots projects through competitive selection procedures (Manual “Pastureland and risk management experiences: key outcomes and further objectives”, chapter 2.1.2, pp 60-64)
7. Support SLP-II achievements in the pastureland and risk management by (Manual “Pastureland and risk management experiences: key outcomes and further objectives”, chapter 2.1-2.2)
- efforts in lagging areas including value chain developments and introducing economic incentives for quality improvements and promoting herders’ cooperation in these areas, and
- complimentary measures such as index-based livestock insurance dealing with extreme natural risks which the project-promoted pastureland and risk management is unable to fully address
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