Introduction

Deluin soum: The Deluin soum (district) is located in the desert-steppe zone of High Altai Mountain in Mongolia, 150km away from the aimak (province) and 1860 km away from Ulaanbaatar city. It shares borders with Tolbo soum to the north and with Khovd and Duut soums of Khovd aimak, and Bulgan soum to the northeast, east, and southwest, respectively. It also borders the Republic of China to the northwest. The soum spans 112 km from north to south and 75 km from west to east.

The average yearly temperature is -0.1 C degrees, with temperatures below -10 degrees for 244 days annually. There are 65 days of rain or snowfall and 40 days of dust storms, while strong winds occur for 8 days. The average wind speed is 1.5m/sec, reaching a maximum of 34-40m/sec, predominantly from the west and northwest. Humidity is less than 30% for 137 days and more than 80 percent for 10 days each year. The average annual humidity is 50.7%, which characterises the dry climate of the Mongolian Altai Mountain region. Pasture utilization follows traditional practices, with higher altitudes used during summer and autumn, and lower areas utilized during winter and spring. Water supply is satisfactory during summer and autumn months, but water scarcity becomes an issue during winter and spring due to frozen rivers and lakes, as well as non-functional artisan wells. Additionally, there is a shortage of hay and fodder due to shortages of the resources required to make them.

Photo 1,2: Community autumn and summer pasture area

Karatau community

The Karatau community consists of herder families (khot ail) and groups of herder families (neg nutgiinkhan). These herders do not form a “cooperation”, but form groups with relatives, a practice specific to nomadic nations. The neg nutgiinkhan group is the most widespread and effective in terms of natural resource management. Although their knowledge is based on tradition rather than scientific methods, they have a deep understanding of local resources, seasonal pastures, and resource protection. If provided with the right support and taught methods to enhance resource utilisation and protection, they can become reliable groups. The Karatau community, established in July 2001, consists of 65 members from 30 families, with a total of 5278 animals: 294 horses, 704 cattle, 2378 sheep, 1888 goats and 14 camels. Each family has an average of ~170.5 animals per family. The total land area of the soum is 1858.54 ha, and there is 0.299 ha per sheep.

The community spends 40% percent of its income on food and 20% percent on travel costs or fuel. The busiest months in this community are May, June, and July, with January and February having lower workloads. Herdsman, boys and elders, herd the cattle and train the horses, whereas the women and girls milk the cows, process the milk, and perform all other household tasks. The community groups and associations play a crucial role in ecological and economic management and function as a social unit, ensuring the protection and proper use of resources. These groups include khot ail (herder groups), sakhalt ail (neighbourhood herders), and neg nutgiinkhan (herders in the same area, watershed, or valley). Khot ail represents the economic unit that uses pastures (with a certificate of ownership of the land and winter and spring shelters), sakhalt ail is the social unit, and neg nutgiinkhan the ecological unit for co-management and pastureland protection. The community has a total land area of 18,580 ha, with specific areas allocated for different types of pastures (16,078 ha for spring, winter and otor pastures (a traditional mobile pasturing strategy), and 2,502 ha for summer pastures).

Location:Latitude 47°59’19”, Longitude 90°43’21”

The community has several distinct characteristics:

• It is located far from the major market centres, approximately 200 km from Ulgii-aimak and 1800 km from Ulaanbaatar;
• Local consumption and market opportunities for the agricultural raw materials and products, are insufficient, resulting in limited income opportunities;
• The community area is situated at an elevation of 2000-2800 meters above the sea level, experiencing long cold winters and short, hot summers, with a brief vegetation-growing period.

The community network includes various partners and groups including: the Katatau community group (a focus group for ICCA within the local community and ethnic group), the Karatau friendship (a larger local community group), the Soum governor’s office, the Bag governor, the Soum meteorological station, the “Kuk Serke” Strictly Protected Area administration, the Chegirtai natural reserve, the community association of the soum, herders, and the Environmental Ranger of the soum.

One significant issue in pasture management is the concentration of animals around settlement centres and water sources, which contributes to overgrazing and desertification. There are three types of animal concentrations: (1) concentration around water wells and salty pastures (2) concentration around settlement areas and market centres and (3) concentration around the cities.

During the transition period from centrally planned economy to a market, the increase in herd numbers resulted in reduced herd mobility, again leading to the overgrazing and degradation.

Figure 3. Seasonal pasture map of Karatau community

A field study estimates that the number of herding families has increased by 2.6 times last 10 years, whereas the distance travelled between new camps has decreased by 1.5 times. Over the last years, the amount of movement by herdsman has greatly decreased with the rich moving less than poorer herders. It has now become standard practice to live near winter and spring shelters all year round.

Governance

In terms of assessing the participation of pasture management within the Karatau community, Deluin soum, it has been observed during our 2022 summer study that 80.8% of the total involvement and implementation activities related to the use and protection of pastureland are conducted by herders and their traditional structures. A portion of these activities is also conducted by local governments and administrative organisations. Although pastures and natural resources are owned by the state, this highlights the importance of "co-management” of rangeland. Regarding decision-making, local governments and administrative organisations account for 52.1% of the total activities, while herders and their traditional structures contribute 47.8%. The participation and implementation of decision-making processes are primarily attributed to community members and their internal structure, representing a between 70.3-80.8%, with the remainder being carried out by local government bodies.

Management

The Karatau community is a community-based organisation of local residents that share common characteristics, such as their local Kazakh language, lifestyle (khot ail, sakhalt ail or neg nutgiinkan), and the natural resource base, and that are linked together by strong kinship (Najiken's generations). They are legally recognised as a ‘community’ under Mongolian Citizen’s Law 476 and 481, and are in pursuit of the sustainable management of natural resources including grassland, water resources, wildlife, and other natural resources. The management rules of Karatau community were discussed and approved by its members in 2001, when it was first established. These rules outline the agreement to use pastures and protect biodiversity in accordance with traditional practices.

From 2001-2008, the community developed an annual plan that involved the members’ participation, evaluation and conclusion of its implementation. In 2021-2022, a small group within the Karatau community negotiated and approved the annual plan for environmental protection and livelihood improvement and organised its implementation. The community group follows an agreement signed with the Governor of soum in 2006-2007 regarding the seasonal grazing and rotation schedule. The Karatau herders’ group had a co-management contract with the Deluin soum Governor in 2005 and 2019 to ensure the responsible use of pastures and natural resources. The activities of the herders' groups have been documented in a database, and they are awaiting certification.

The herders within this community are rural people who are particularly vulnerable to poverty and climate change. They have a mobile lifestyle, following their animals in the search of green seasonal pastures.

New Constitution of Mongolia (1992) states that pastures are owned by the state, while livestock is privately owned. However, both pastures and livestock are considered national assets and are protected by the state. The legal framework for common pastureland use includes the Land Law (2003), the Law on Environmental Protection (2012), and the Law on Grazing Fees (2021).

In Mongolia, most seasonal pastures have open access, and traditional systems of pasture use are well-established. The Karatau group practices co-management of public pastures and natural resources in accordance with a general agreement with the local governments. Specific regulations for seasonal pastureland use are outlined in articles 6.2.1 and 52.2. of the Land Law (2003) of Mongolia. These recognise the importance of otor pasture (a traditional mobile pasturing strategy) use during harsh climate events and emphasise the protection of pastureland from overgrazing. These regulations are based on land use traditions, pasture capacity and regional characteristics.

Conservation

Part of Karatau community's seasonal grazing land, including the spring and autumn reserve pastures in “Bitu Havsal”, fall within the buffer zone of the State Specially Protected Area called “Khokh Serhk”. There is also an area around “Tal nuur” Lake (serving as summer pastures), which is included in the buffer zone of a National Park Area called “Chigertai”.

Ecosystem services include pastureland use, conservation of wild animal species, seasonal pastureland use, the sustainable use of plant species. Specifically, there is a focus on natural grass ecosystems and high-altitude mountains for wildlife.

Wildlife species conserved in ICCAs: Wild Mountain Sheep (Ovis ammon); Ibex (Capra ibex sibirica) and Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia).

List of key plant species conserved in ICCAs:

Сайрынхялгана (Stipa glareosa), Дэрс (Achnatherum splendens), Шарилж (Oxtropis tragacanthoides), Саманөрхөг (Agropyron cristatum), Хазарөвс (Cleistogenes squarrosa), Нэвскийнхиаг (Agropyron nevskii), Хадныулалж (Carex stenocapra), Алтайнсонгино (Allium altaicum Pall).

To promote conservation, project activities in the Karatau community focus on shifting and rotating animal grazing, as well as re-seeding pastures and community monitoring.

• The Argali Sheep (Ovis ammon) has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2020 and is listed as Near Threatened under criteria A2de.
• The Siberian Ibex (Capra sibirica) has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2020 and is listed as Near Threatened under criteria A4abcd.
• The Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2016 and listed as Vulnerable under criteria C1.

Community monitoring of wildlife and alternative livelihoods projects are currently ongoing to promote conservation and protect wildlife.