https://mongolia.wcs.org RSS feeds for WCS Mongolia 60 https://mongolia.wcs.org/en-us/About-Us/News/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8146/International-Workshop-seeks-to-address-the-impact-of-linear-infrastructure-on-the-migratory-mammals-of-Mongolia.aspx#Comments 0 https://mongolia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5560&ModuleID=10898&ArticleID=8146 https://mongolia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=8146&PortalID=110&TabID=5560 https://mongolia.wcs.org/en-us/About-Us/News/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/8146/International-Workshop-seeks-to-address-the-impact-of-linear-infrastructure-on-the-migratory-mammals-of-Mongolia.aspx Between August 24-28th, WCS provided technical assistance and support to ‘Implementing wildlife-friendly measures in infrastructure planning and design in Mongolia’, an international workshop, which was organized by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) secretariat, and the Mongolian Ministry of Environment, Green Development and Tourism.   Substantial strides have been made in this field since the 2003 International Meeting1 organized in Vilm, which produced a Declaration of Intent. WCS has followed the Vilm declaration closely and delivered on many of its action plans. WCS helped produce the new Railway standard, which was approved in June 2015, organized two national infrastructure and wildlife workshops, created a documentary on crossings, and established anti-poaching teams for wildlife monitoring research. The Mongolian Government, private companies, and conservation NGO-s have all come to recognize the importance of migratory corridors. Subsequently, the CMS Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI) was launched internationally. However, on the ground results have yet to be seen among the migratory mammals in Mongolia, which face frequent barriers in their daily movement and require further actions and decisions to be made.   At this international workshop, the different parties convened with the goal of creating a declaration (possibly entitled the Ulaanbaatar declaration of intent) similar in structure to the successful Vilm declaration. Some of the major concerns have included making sure that the new standard is actually enforced, that productive agreements take place with the authorities of the existing Trans-Mongolian railway, that capacity building needs are all determined, and that measurable and concrete commitments are made for the upcoming years.   The workshop ended with a one-day excursion along the Trans-Mongolian railway south towards Choir city. Sightings of cranes, livestock, gazelle carcasses, and observations of the railway fence and underpass designs were interesting elements of this visit. The conference ended in a hopeful note, where government, non-government and corporate agencies all recognized that the cause of the workshop is something that is complex, time-sensitive, but critically important. WCS Mongolia is dedicated to making sure that all future linear infrastructure projects are permeable, and do not threaten wildlife populations. Mongolia is playing one of the leading roles in incorporating appropriate policies to ease wildlife movements, so it is crucial that this momentum is not slowed down.    1 “Minimize Conflicts between Migrating Wildlife and Mining in Central Asia” onon@wcs.org Sun, 06 Sep 2015 22:21:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:8146 https://mongolia.wcs.org/en-us/About-Us/News/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/6533/The-Second-National-workshop-on-Mitigating-the-impacts-of-linear-infrastructure-on-the-movement-of-wildlife.aspx#Comments 0 https://mongolia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5560&ModuleID=10898&ArticleID=6533 https://mongolia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6533&PortalID=110&TabID=5560 https://mongolia.wcs.org/en-us/About-Us/News/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/6533/The-Second-National-workshop-on-Mitigating-the-impacts-of-linear-infrastructure-on-the-movement-of-wildlife.aspx This past Novemeber, WCS initiated and co-organized the second workshop on “Mitigating the impact of linear infrastructure on the movement of wildlife”. This workshop follows up on the first national workshop on “Road and railway crossings in Mongolia”, which took place in May 2013. The first national workshop shone the spotlight on this longstanding issue concerning linear infrastructure and its impact on wildlife movement, and was able to publically garner political will among key players and agencies to address this issue while it is still possible to mitigate potential impacts.   The workshop culminated in the creation of the Joint Ministerial Working Group to address this issue within the legal framework, and to oversee other supporting activities. In the second workshop, the joint efforts of WCS, the Ministry of Road and Infrastructure (MRT), the Ministry of Environment and Green Development (MEGD), WWF, and the Institute of Biology was able to congregate a meeting consisting of railway companies, environmental impact assessment companies, government agencies, and civil society.   One of the main goals of the workshop was to introduce the work outcomes of the Joint-Ministerial Working Group, these include: 1) the ‘General requirements for over and underpasses built to allow migratory ungulates’, a new standard, which is in the process of development, 2) the ongoing study to identify the most optimal fence removal points along the existing UB Railway line to allow wildlife to cross, and 3) existing international policies and technologies surrounding this issue. Additionally, the Ulaanbaatar Railway and the Mongolian Railway spoke about the environmental policies upheld in their respective companies. Speakers included B.Buuveibaatar (WCS), B.Lhagvasuren (Institute of Biology), Lee Jong Yeol (Samsung LLC), B.Zorigtsaikhan (Ulaanbaatar Railway), Yo.Onon (MEGD), D.Gerelnyam (MRT), D.Batbold (MEGD), and B.Byambajav (MRT). The workshop ended on a strong note. The government agencies and the railway companies came to a common understanding that the movement of wildlife in Mongolia needs to be accommodated if we want to maintain healthy populations of the affected species. Thus, the infrastructure companies promised their willingness to cooperate on these issues; while the ministries and other concerned organizations showed that they were committed to carrying out the necessary work to make uninhibited movement a real possibility. The new standard still needs to be ratified, and the fence removal project still needs to be implemented, but tangible progress has taken place to ensure that Mongolia’s infrastructure does not stop our wildlife from thriving. onon@wcs.org Fri, 26 Dec 2014 01:22:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6533 https://mongolia.wcs.org/en-us/About-Us/News/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2699/Crossing-Documentary-Opening.aspx#Comments 0 https://mongolia.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=5560&ModuleID=10898&ArticleID=2699 https://mongolia.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=2699&PortalID=110&TabID=5560 https://mongolia.wcs.org/en-us/About-Us/News/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2699/Crossing-Documentary-Opening.aspx On World Environment Day (June 5th) of 2014, the Wildlife Conservation Society launched their newly released documentary titled 'Crossings'. This documentary introduces the challenges of promoting development that also respects conservation concerns. Mongolia has various migratory ungulates (namely the Mongolian gazelle, goitered gazelle, saiga antelope, and the khulan) that are being affected by existing railway and highway infrastructure. This documentary introduces both solutions (taken from international case studies), and the places where improvement can be made to legislation and standards related to rail lines in Mongolia. The documentary was met with praise and support from the audience, who were all in agreement that it is possible to make appropriate changes to legislation, and create new standards that mitigate the barrier effect of rail lines to the movement of the spectacular animals in Mongolia. In attendance were the Minister of Environment and Green Development (Mrs Oyun Sanjaasuren), and high-level officials from the Ministry of Road and Infrastructure. The documentary can be viewed here.  onon@wcs.org Mon, 27 Oct 2014 03:28:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:2699