WORKING GROUP MEETINGS

Presentation of HE Mr. Dashsuren, Governor of Sukhbaatar province
Work tendency of the future cooperation and works to be executed by Sukhbaatar province in the local project of the Tumen River area

Dear delegates of the International Workshop of Tumen River project,

I am greeting you on the name of the Governor of the Sukhbaatar province, its Governing Office and citizens. In the sphere of the project "Tumen River" nature protection and preserves of the province we are going to develop a cooperation program with Russia and China. In the sphere of "Green Business" work the Governor's Office of Sukhbaatar province published methodology handbooks in the all soums of the province and we'll organize Policy works like contribution, assistance to the work.

Regarding the travel and tourism: The surface of the Sukhbaatar province has a special and interesting structure and also oasis, pure water spring, elm attract people, thus many reporters, tourists and travelers of periods made reports and documents interviews. All the information is enriched day by days. The ancestors of Mongolians, nomads of Central Asia have lived in this territory and during the period they have created a lot of historical sources and many of them are acclimatization, graves and tombs, remnants of Stone Era, ruins of the ancient cities, traditional portrait, stone pierced work, ancient complex art works still existing in this territory.
We are organizing the policy works to take open measures on the basis of the residents' opinions and requests, to advertise them to keep the original view and aspects, protect the natural resources, water and biological kinds and species that continues from our province over board.

The famous Ganga Lake is located in 17 km from the Center of Dariganga soum occupying 32800 square meters. It is the beautiful see-sight that looks blue on the left of the Moltsog sand. The plants and animals of the see-sights at the Moltsog sand haven't been researched yet. There are a lot of animals and birds rare in the world like Swan, Eastern frog that goes into Red book of Mongolia, and also there are wolf, fox, Caracas, marmot, steppe polecat, rabbit, badger, wild Steppe Cat, white Antelope, Pallass' Sandgrouse, partridge, raven, magpie.
Regarding the plants there are usually herbs and in the sand dunes there are over 60 medicinal and food herbs including: German Garlic, wild leek, red onion, white mushroom, polygonum alapecuroidis, diacanthum, great burnet, sugar beet, Star thistle, lagopsis supina, roseroot, apricot, ledebouriana, wild cherry, elm etc.

As a Governor of the Province I am going to make a nature travel and research Center from the Darganga zone, to protect ecosystem of Ganga lake, to advertise the province in the neighbour provinces of Russia, China. We are planning a travel routine, nature ecology structure, to identify the location of the historical and cultural treasures, and their interrelation. The convenient possibility to develop travel and tour will be implemented in the sphere of the strategy program of the Tumen River area and we'll be able to receive foreign and domestic tourists and cooperate with them. We made a protection of pure water resource by planting trees and bushes. We are planning to serve foreign and Mongolian guests with over 50 kinds of medicinal herbs near the rest-home and sand dunes bushes, Duut and Dagshin lakes and protect eco-system of the Ganga lake. The governor will take all the possible measures regarding the economic development, road transport, service of the settlement of the Tumen River area. Furthermore, Governor and Governing Office inform that we are ready to make an agreement and cooperate with Board defense and neighbour countries in any problems of the Board.

The territory of the province covers southern part of Mongolian Western part with the 82.9 square meter in the 2-3 lines of the eastern longitude and 45-48 lines of the north latitude. It is a steppe zone. The territory is in average 800-1000 meters high above the sea level. The highest point is 1777 meter Shiliin Bogd Mountain/in the territory of Darganga soum/and the lowest point is 790 meter near Baishint. In the north and northern west of the Sukhbaatar province there are mountain reanges of Munkh-Khaan mountain with shape top and erect side, but in the southern part of the province there are low plain steppes. In the southern parts there is a steppe zone with the highest mountains like Shiliin Bogd, Zotolkhan, Dari Ovoo, Lkhachinvandad which are 1000-1700 meters high above the sea level. In the southern part of the province there are a lot of sand stretching to the west in places like Ongon and Moltsog. In the edge of the Sand there are springs and Ganga, Kholboo, White lakes in the lowest places. There are 13 rivers 130 km long and89 lakes, 261 springs in Sukhbaatar province. The climate is changeable. The average precipitation is 170-250 mm.

Environment: Mongolia is divided into 6 big zones and 16 provinces and biology-geographical 47 circles. But Sukhbaatar province is covered into steppe zone of vegetation cover. The dominant feature of the zone is lower mountains and mountain ranges, plain steppe with artemisia, shrub, herbs, bunger, glareosa, subshrubs. The province wasn't far from the people's reach and the biology species are the important complex of the ecosystem of the world. 32860 hectare of the Ganga lake land is in the united network of the special nature protection that is necessary to provide with the biosphere balance and origin of the nature, to protect the biology species, historical and cultural treasures. The province can be considered to be the important land not only for Mongolia and also for the world. The example is :We made a Reserve of "Mongolian-Russian-Chinese Daguur" in 1954 from the reserve of Monglo Daguur, connecting to the Russian "Daur", Chinese "Dalai Lake" reserves. It plays a mian role in protection of the water-birds and make a province of rare in the world water birds and in 1997 it enrolled the Eastern-North Asian crane protection network and the RAMCAR convention about the "Environment of the Water Birds land of water and marshy places with the International importance".

Protection of see-sights, biology species and lake system become the most vulnerable problem. The Convention about the "Biology Species" has three main objectives to be implemented in all the nations of the world. It includes:
-Protection of the biology species
- Constant usage of the biology species
- Even distribution of its results
Dariganga plateau goes into Daguur-Eastern Mongolian network. Thus the protection of the ecosystem of the province, identifying its general view, management problem implementation is important for the world nature and environment policy. Ecosystem of the Ganga lake and migratory birds problems need an attention from the Governor and nature Protection service of the province. Especially regarding the climate of the Dariganga steppe, plants and ecosystem feature-migratory animals-lake system-migratory birds we are going to organize wide-spread work, i.e. our main purpose is to protect water, soil of the 32860 square meter land of the Ganga lake and provide the migratory birds with the convenient environment. Dariganga steppe of the province is attractive by its steppe landscape, rare in the world birds of the Mongolian and Inner Mongolian origin. There are 3 categories of wild animals that goes into the list of the rarest animal in the Law about Hunting approved in 1995 and 9 kinds of water birds that goes onto the first appendix of the CITES and Red Book of Mongolia. It expresses the international importance of the province. It includes: Wild crane, Siberian white swan, rumble swan, crane/Grus grus/, white-naped crane, hooded crane, demoiselle crane, Bustard, relict gull.

Except the nature protection the province is going to rear white antelope and with the future plan and policy in special stages. The break of the ecosystem and over-usage of the pasture causes the pasture break, especially it is clearly noticed in our province of a steppe pasture zone. There is also a risk of the environment of the antelope that has lived in our province for last decade.

According to the researches of the last years about 50% the main pasture reserve of the pasture is owned by the herdsmen, thus it badly affects the environment of the antelope and the numbers of the antelope cattle decreasing and the cattle moves to another places.

Thus it is important for the administrative organizations to take a policy measure on normalization of the acclimatization of the antelope, to free the main pastures from usage and cooperate in further. Antelope usually live in the Erdentsagaan, Dariganga, Asgat, Sukhbaatar, Tumentsogt soums of the province. The Governing Board of the province made a research work on the habitat location of the antelope. In order not to use the dominant land of the antelope the Nature protection Service of the Province developed methodology and advice and suggested to the administrative to make an agreement.

We developed a plan to cooperate with the Governing Boards of the neighbouring provinces in the sphere of the antelope acclimatization of the antelope and clean the well "Tugeemel" of the Sukhbaatar province and the well "Gurvan Khadtai" of the Asgat soum. In the sphere of the project "Strategy program of the Tumen River area" Mongolian Association of Nature Protection we developed a united plan to be implemented from August 2001 to June 2002.

Dear sirs. I am very happy to inform you that Governor's Office, its governing board and citizens are ready to meet your request and cooperate further.

Thanks for your attention.