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Mongolia - Geography

Environment Based on a tradition going back to the era of Chinggis Khan, the government of Mongolia expresses public commitment to restoring and protecting its natural resources. As a result of rapid urbanization and industrial growth policies under the socialist regime--particularly resource extraction--Mongolia's environment has been severely damaged. Protecting what remains has policy priority over reclaiming damaged land, although the government recently created a special restoration fund financed by polluter fees.

In 2010 the World Health Organization (WHO) identified Ulaanbaatar as having “the world’s worst air pollution,” with pollutant levels ranging from 10 to 121 times greater than WHO guidelines. The two primary sources of the pollution are the burning of soft coal (or any waste materials) for heating and cooking in inefficient stoves and coal-fired thermal power plants. Road traffic and process emissions from the brick and construction industries are other major contributors to the problem. In 2011 parliament passed the Law on Air Pollution Reduction in the Capital City, and significant efforts--including energy-efficient building and sustainable energy projects to reduce reliance on aging power plants--are underway to reduce air pollution by 50% in 2012.

Climate change has been identified by the Government of Mongolia as the most serious environmental issue facing the country. The annual mean temperature of Mongolia has increased three times more than the global average, and the frequency of extreme high temperatures has increased. The resulting desertification has significant consequences for Mongolia’s agriculture industry and the traditional nomadic herding lifestyle. Overgrazing by herders attempting to increase their incomes also is a significant contributor to desertification.

Mongolia’s water issues revolve around water management. An anticipated doubling of GDP over the next decade will shift the balance between user groups and potentially lead to degradation of both surface and ground water quality and quantity. The economic growth will be driven by large-scale mining projects primarily in the water-scarce south Gobi region; these will require large amounts of water for operations (primarily from underground aquifers) and to meet the needs of a large influx of employees. A plan to expand agricultural crop production combined with poor soil quality will lead to widespread use of fertilizer, which could potentially further degrade water quality.

Mongolia ’s diverse and distinctive vegetation includes an important part of Asia ’s plant life. Species representative of Siberia ’s coniferous taiga forest, Central Asia ’s steppe and desert, and the Altai and Sayan mountains all occur here. Steppe plants from Kazakhstan grow beside Manchurian steppe flowers. More than 3000 species of vascular plants, 927 lichens, 437 mosses, 875 fungi, and numerous algae has been recorded. Many other species, however, remains classified. Mongolia ’s flora includes almost 150 endemic plants and nearly 100 relic species. Over 100 plant species listed in the Mongolian Red book as rare or endangered.

Like its vegetation, Mongolia ’s fauna represents a mixture of species from the northern taiga of Siberia , the steppe, and the deserts of Central Asia . Fauna includes 136 species of mammals, 436 birds, 8 amphibians, 22 reptiles, 75 fish, and numerous invertebrates. Species endemic to Central Asia founded primarily in the Gobi and desert steppe including the Mongolian subspecies of the Saiga antelope tatarica mongolica, four species of jerboa and a vole that are endemic to Central Asia. The birds include the Altai snowcock Tetraogallus altaica and Kozlov’s accentor Prunella kozlovi.Reptiles endemic to Central Asia includes eight species. Endemic fish include the Altai Osman Oreoloeuciscus potanini and the Mongolian grayling Thymallus brevirostris. Numerous globally threatened and endangered species occur in Mongolia.

The common natural resource is surface and underground water. The total annual water reservoir of Mongolia is 34cub.km and most of it is fresh water. In Mongolia , there are many possibilities of using the water resource properly. Almost 51% of the overall reserves belong to the Arctic Ocean , 12% to the Pacific Ocean basin, and 37% to the Central Asian basin, which has no outlet. All rivers in Mongolia are roughly 65.000 km long and many of them have clear water. They are mostly mountain rivers with a steady current. The possible total reserve is Mongolia is 6 billion cub.m. 670 million cub.m water is being used now for industry and agriculture in about 300 cities and towns. There are about 3800 big rivers and streams in Mongolia , which have steady current, and their total length is 667.000 km. Many countries in the world are lacking fresh water and the cost of water is increasing at the world market. Besides supplying its own domestic need for fresh water, Mongolia can also export it to foreign countries.

Forests, which include 140 species of wood and scrubs, cover about 14 million hectares of land constituting nearly 9% of the overall territory. The total forest resources are more than 1.2 billion cub.m. It is estimated that between five and 7 million cub.m of wood grow every year. Forests are mostly in the northern parts of the country, namely in Khuvsgul, Selenge, Bulgan, Khentii and Arkhangai aimags. Over 84% of forest belongs to the territories of these aimags. About 62% of forests is coniferous and 38% leaf bearing. Mongolia has the highest forest resources per person in the world.