WORKING GROUP MEETINGS

Working Group Report on Daurian Steppe Zone
By Ms. Anu Saxen

Introduction

This report is based on the group discussions and 'metaplan' working method. The group consisted of 12 to 20 people representing the Dornod aimag, Khentii aimag in Mongolia and Chitinskaya oblast in Russia. The purpose of the working group was to gather ideas and material as much as possible, and not to make a thorough analysis of data. Therefore the information in the report is as it was discussed. It has not been modified or reworded.

For the "metaplan" part of the Group was splitted in to two groups for two reasons; both regions have different local characteristics and needs, and the other reason was the language barrier.

Due to time constraint, the Group didn't fully complete all tasks, as presented in the instructions to the working groups, see Annex 4, but the Group hopes that results presented in this report give enough ideas and material to the TDA team to complete the final TDA.

1. Development priorities and environmental management in transboundary context in Dornod aimag. Khentii Aimag and Chitinskaya Oblast
1.1. Dornod Aimag, Mongolia
Development priorities:

Agriculture:
Further development of animal farming;
Meat processing using new technologies;

Transport:
Construction of "Millenium road" from Eastern Mongolia to China
Construction of Choybalsaan rail road to Russia
Construction of new airport in Choybalsaan-new air routes

Urban development:
Development of Choybalsaan as a regional center
Integration of small settlements into bigger ones.

New industries:
Gas pipeline construction-in future

Environmental management:
Cooperation on local, national and region level to enforce the existing legislation;
Training of people;
Involvement of the local population in problem solving;
Participation of NGOs all levels
1.2 Khentii Aimag, Mongolia
Development priorities:

* Mining industry (coal, fluorspar, gold), high priority of development of mixed element ore with following processing;
* Sustainable utilization of natural resources;
* Introduction of biotechnology to agricuture;
* Food and light industry,
* Creation of common network for electricity, communication and information;
* Power supply of herdsmen and provision with communication means;
* Develop social services for herdsmen-education, health, cultural life;
* Small enterprises for food processing (animal products);
* Export oriented processing of wool and meat based on new breed;
* Tourism development based on protection of historical birthplace of Great Genggis Khan and National Parks; develop tourist camps as National Parks;
* Restoration of links with neighboring countries;

Environmental management:

* Prevention of desertification and land degradation;
* Establish natural resource zone for rare species like gazelle and birds;

1.3. Chitinskaya oblast, Russia
Development priorities:
* Agriculture
*Mining industry
* Nature conservation

Environmental management:
* Biodiversity conservation-direct and indirect measures in the border regions
* Fire prevention
* Pollution control in transboundary context
* Multilateral agreements on trade of endangered species and wildlife products, and fire control

2. Problem Analysis

Problems and issues as derived from the Cluster Analysis.
The results are developed taking into account major environmental issues. Many of the problems represent more than one environmental issue. In the table the problems have been listed taking into account the major environmental issue.
Clusters Loss and modification of ecosystems Pollution of water bodies Fresh water shortage and changes to water regines Desertification and soildegradation
Degradation of wetlands *Lack of information on wetlands;*Capacity building of SPAs staff;*Poor community involvement;*Quality of SPAs equipement and people;*Pollutants; *Illegal fishing;*Habitat of migratory birds; *Social problems (cutting trees and bushes);*Fire affects; *Insects (grasshopper)*Vegetationcover ischanging;
Urbanization impacts *Air pollution;*Steppe and forest fires;*Uncontrolled transport network (poor planning);*Overutilization of natural resources;*Insufficient carrying capacity of river streams due to growing settlements; *Water pollution;*Water, soil and air pollution; *Social problems (cutting trees and bushes);*Fire affects; *Soil pollution, solid waste;*steppe and forest fires;*deserification*overgrazing;*pasture land management;
Tourism and its impact *Solid waste as a result of uncontrolled tourism;*Forest fires;*Carrying capacity of ecosystem;*POPs;*Solid waste management;*Poaching and collection of rare plant species *Environmental pollution *Land degradation
Mining industry Destruction of habitats;Disturbance of wildlife noise and blusts;Change of sildlife migration patterns; *Overutilisation of natural resources; *Transformation of geochemical conditions;*People's settlement (concentration of social problems);*Rehabilitation of mine sites
Impacts from agriculture *Wrong use of pesticides and herbicides;*Overgrazing;*Rodents increase;*Agricultural lands rehabilitation *Breeding of animal species that are not suitable for Chitinskaya oblast;*Overgrazing;*Water and wind erosion as a result of wrong ploughing technology;*Soil degradation;*Rodents increase;
Transport networks (road, rail & pipelines) *Disruption of migration;*Roads as a result of gas pipeline construction between Russia and China and Korea *Uncontrolled development of ground roads network*Land degradation due to construction of pipeline
Explotation of forests *On-purpose forest fires to reduce value of woods;*Corruption of regional administration;*Lack of ability to develop local wood processing industry and market;
Erosion and land degradation *Lan degradation
Forest and steppe fires *Steppe fire causes forest fire;*Climate change as a result of human activity (global worming)
Poaching and illegal trading *Ratification of international conventions;*Mass media involvement;*Social problems (unemployment and poverty)*Illegal trading with forest products

3. Gap Analysis
Problems been discussed in the working group where more specific than those in the draft Cluster Analysis (see Annex 2), therefore it is difficult to compare and indentify 'gaps' or missing issues. The Group felt that problems listed above complement those in the draft Cluster Analysis.

In the draft Cluster Analysis 'Impact from Agriculture' was ignored. The Group felt that impacts from agriculture is such a big problem, that the cluster has to be added, although it was not prioritised among the four most important ones.
Clusters Loss and modification of ecosystems Pollution of water bodies Fresh water shortage and changes to water regimes Desertification and soilDegradation
Impacts from agriculture *Wrong use of pesticides and herbicides;*Overgrazing;*Rodents increase;*Agricultural lands rehabilitation *Breeding of animal species that are not suitable for Chitinskaya oblast;*Overgrazing;*Water and wind erosion as a result of wrong ploughing technology;*Soil degradation;*Rodents increase;

4. Prioritisation of the problems/issues
First both teams felt that it is not possible to prioritise any specific items. Therefore the Group started by defining criteria for prioritisation.

Criteria for prioritisation of the clusters and/or problems are the following:
1. Scale of the problem: transboundary
national
local
1. Significance of impact consequences: time and space
2. Importance for socio-economic conditions
3. Possibility to mitigate/solve the problem.

Based on the criteria the following clusters were prioritised:
1. Erosion and land degradation
2. Mining industry
3. Poaching and illegal trade
4. Forest/steppe fires

And the environmental issues as follows:
1. Loss and modifications of ecosystem
2. Desertification and soil degradation
3. Pollution of water bodies

Later the Group was also able to prioritise the problems of the selected clusters:
Cluster Problems/Issues
Desertification and soil degradation "insects" (grasshoppers and rodents);strong windsglobal warming and climate changechange of vegetation structurepasture land managementdecrease of water levelwildlife
Steppe and forest fires *human activity*transboundary fires*climate change
Mining Industry *rehabilitation of lands*wateer pollution and decrease of water level*settlement of people
Poaching and illegal trading *transboundary poaching*signing and ratification of international conventions *change of habitats
5. Major constraints and stakeholders in relation to identified clusters
The task was to identify major constraints for implementation the SAP. The Group was splitted into two due to different conditions of the countries. Written in 'italics' represent the Mongolian constraints.

Thereafter the Group supposed to have indentified the stakeholders (affected or in charge) to be involved in the TDA, but due to lack of time it was done only for two clusters.
Clusters Identification of major constraints Stakeholders
Degradation of wetlands *Lack of coordination of land management;*local traditions of nomadic people;*negative attitude of people towards wetlands
Urbaniztion impacts *Regionalization policy is not ready;*lack of infrastructure (no budget funds, no proper planning);*allocation of lands by land committee;*poor land management and planning
Tourism and its impact *Lack of roads, electricity, water;*lack of funds for investments (pubic and private) for tourism facilities;*lack of legislation to control the tourism;*local population doesn't benefit from tourism;*absence of services (guides, showers.)
Mining industry *Law enforcement: land law, mineral resources law, mining law;*Corruption;*incompetent management in mining industry (business in not viable, lack of land rehabilitation) *Mining workers;*Owners of mines: gov. and private companies;*Land owners: gov, private, collective farms;*Local population;*Land use and other committees allocating permits
Impacts from agriculture *Government allocates funds for other then the originally meant purposes;*Allocation of lands for settlements without proper planning;*Regulations for re-utilization of lands;*80% of local economy is agriculture;* wrong use of pesticides and herbicides
Transport networks (road, rail & pipelines) *Lack of budget funds;*Pubic awareness (culture and ethics of people);*no driving culture;*structure of settlement pattern;
Exploitation of forests *Forest insects, lack of funds, tools, knowledge and management on how to use them;*lack of funds to maintain the forests;*enforcement of forestry legislation;*Ineffective management of forest resources;*Big demand at international market for timber;*Important source of income for people;
Erosion and land degradation *Land Law enforcement;*ecologically unaccepted technology of soil treatment;*lack of funds for soil restoration;*mechanical destruction of soil (construction sites)
Forest fires *careless attitude;*lack of funds for fire brigades (from government and communities);*lack of intergovernmental conventions on prevention of fires;*lack of funds, human resources and road network for fire fighting;*low volume and quality of preventive measures
Poaching and illegal trading *Lack of funds for monitoring and supply of equipment for rangers;*Poor pubic awareness of consequences;*No alternative sources of income;*low living standard forces to income generation;*demand at the external market *Local population (hunters)*Hunting, fisheries, forestry… committees*Committee of natural resources (permits)*Pharmaceutical companies*Controlling bodies: customs, water committee*Com. Of natural resource *Police*Illegal traders*Chinese timber*processing companies
As we can see there are quite a number of constraints, but most of them are related to enforcement and revision of laws and regulation, lack of funds, poor physical planning and land management, public awareness and wrong attitude.

6. Enabling measures for SAP ownership and implementation
Again, due to time constraint, the enabling measures were not discussed cluster by cluster, but on general basis, and especially focused on those relevant for all prioritised clusters. Activities here below are mainly related to the prioritised clusters.
Acitivities Involvement/in charge
Revision and enforcement of mining and natural resources laws
Development and control of physical planning and land management (land use) Local authorities and committees
Awareness campaign and attitude education among communities Ministry of environmental protection and NGOs (NGO "Dauria" in Chita oblast and MoEP in Mongolia)
Carry out baseline studies on needs, resources and finance for the development priorities
Give more authority to local administration for local decision making and to issue licenses.Improve cooperation and information exchange between the local and central government Mongolian Parliament (natural resources)
Creation of working group with representatives from relevant stakeholders *Local and central administration*Committee of natural resources*Higher education*Scientists*Agriculture*Business*Other stakeholders (NGO)
Management training fro mining industry in order to make the business more viable, so that the industry can take responsibility for the environment
Carry out an inventory of lands. Proper land use planning is not possible without a thorough survey of lands. Lands committee
Formation and implementation of a transboundary Econet

Annex 1 Major Problems as indicated in the Cluster Analysis
Degradation of wetlands Increasing demand for fresh water by industry, humans and livestock, pressure to increase arable lands, changing salinity level resulting to the food chain, shrinking of lakes and wetlands due to lowering water tables, introducing pesticides and herbicides from agriculture
Urbanization impacts Economic development plans that envisage new cities and transport lines impact on gazelle habitats, increasing level of industrial and human waste entering water resources (rivers, lakes, groundwater), diminishing recreational areas
Tourism and its impact Pollution by tourist groups, fast increasing the number of tourist visiting the region and impacting on natural reources, damage to environmental resources (like historical sites), additional needs for infrastructure (hotels, restaurants, local transport..)
Mining industry Conflict of economic development trends and new job creation with aspect of environmental protection, water pollution, introducing toxic elements from noble metal leaching, need for rehabilitation and revegetation
Transport networks (road, rail & pipelines) Fragmentation of gazelle habitats as result of transport corridors development, water pollution from oil spills, disruption of animal migratory routes, pressure on natural resources, impact on environment from traffic noise and exhaust
Exploitation of forestsErosion and land degradation Deforestation due to development of timber industry and extension of radius of human activity, primary forest degradationImpact from industrial and human development, using fertilizers in agriculture, over-exploitation of lands (agriculture)
Forest firesPoaching and illegal trading Tourism development and increasing number of tourists visiting the region, low capacity of information system for fire protection, low public awareness, natural caused reasonsUnemployment, low income of local population, traditions of hunting, lack of regulatory system, low pubic environmental awareness, lack of environmental information, over-exploitation of living resources in essential for the cluster.