For thousands of years, nomadic herders in Mongolia and around the world have practiced sustainable, seasonally mobile pasture management in harmony with nature — a living example of mitigating land degradation and desertification
Nomadic herders in Mongolia and around the world have lived in harmony with nature for thousands of years by implementing sustainable pasture management based on seasonal migration, which is a real experience in mitigating land degradation and desertification.
The rapid expansion of mining, extractive industry, infrastructure, border-port development, and transport and logistics projects in Mongolia’s arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions is intensifying pressure on traditional land use, fragmenting pastures, and accelerating ecosystem degradation.
Mongolian civil society sees the Global Drought Regime and the new Strategic Framework of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification to be discussed at COP17 as an opportunity to consider the participation, adaptive capacity, and equitable financing of herders, local communities, women, men, children, youth, and the elderly, who are most affected by land degradation and drought, as an integral part of the policy.
At the COP17 negotiations level, principles of rights-based land governance, herder participation, traditional knowledge, ecosystem service valuation, responsible investment, and socio-environmental protection need to be discussed and reflected in decisions.
Therefore, within the framework of the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, which will be held in Mongolia, is a critical moment to independently express the rights, voices, and views of all Mongolian citizens and herders regarding desertification and land degradation at the international level. In this context, around 30 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the fields of environment, human rights, herders’ development, social protection, and youth participation came together to develop the “COP17 Civil Society Joint Statement.” The draft was circulated to 196 civil society organizations for comment; 5 organizations and individual researchers made additional comments, and 7 organizations expressed their support.
The “COP17 Civil Society Joint Statement” was developed through the CSO Joint Advocacy Network (the Network), comprising more than 30 civil society organizations in Mongolia, with coordination facilitated by People in Need under the EU-funded Twin Transition Project. The Statement reflects the independent views and recommendations of the participating civil society organizations.
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Statement by: