Mongolia – National efforts succeed in rehabilitating thousands of hectares of mining-affected lands

Location: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Language: Mongolian

Duration: 00:04:00

Resource: A24

Restrictions: A24 subscribers

Dateline: 02-17-2022

Storyline

The government has started implementing an ambitious plan to rehabilitate more than 8,000 hectares of lands damaged and abandoned for so many years due to mining activities. At least 2,000 hectares of degraded land need to be rehabilitated. To achieve this goal, the government has set up a task force comprised of several top officials to that end. More than 2,123 hectares have been rehabilitated and some 679 hectares have also been biologically rehabilitated thanks to the task force’s intensive work to rehabilitate degraded areas nationwide in 2021. This was one of the highlights of the Ministry of Nature, Environment, and Tourism’s 2021 project, which achieved the government’s goal of rehabilitating 2,000 hectares of land by 2021.

Shotlist

– (Soundbite): Sh. Bayartsetseg, a researcher

“The State Great Hural Resolution No. 24 of 2020, passed Section 5.1.8 of the Government of Mongolia’s Action Plan of 2020-2024, which sets a major policy goal of rehabilitating 8,000 hectares of land damaged and abandoned for many years due to mining activities.  By a joint order dated December 30, 2020, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Environment and Tourism, Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry, and Minister of Justice and Home Affairs established a task force to achieve this goal, and a task force was formed.”

– (Soundbite) B. Buyannemekh, a senior analyst at the Department of Environmental Natural Resources Management

“In 2021, the working group took measures to intensify rehabilitation work. As a result of the measures taken within the framework of the rehabilitation work to intensify the rehabilitation work carried out in the country in 2021, the goal of rehabilitating some 2,000 hectares of land nationwide, which is the goal of 2021, was successfully implemented. The results of the biological rehabilitation of the site will be displayed at the end of the year.”

– (Soundbite) B. Buyannemekh, a senior analyst of the Department of Environmental Natural Resources Management

“The number of illegal mining notably decreased in 2021 as a result of the establishment of security checkpoints in 11 locations across eight provinces and the successful implementation of measures to prevent illegal mining. We will continue to set up checkpoints in 18 areas of 11 Aimags [districts] in 2022 to prevent illegal mining because it is not decreasing in certain protected areas. This event will be organized in collaboration with government agencies.”

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