Enabling Environment for Social Accountability in ... - SASANet

plans, but there was no follow-up action taken by the GoM. According to the ORM, only 10 percent of
sites have been restored following mining operations. The only response offered by the MRPA is that its
Mining Department has set out an annual schedule of sites needing restoration and a list of the associated
costs, while conceding that implementation has been weak (MRPA 2004).
REPLICABILITY
Currently Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia, Inc., and the GoM are negotiating a stability agreement to mine the
massive Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold deposit. Hence, the issues affecting the Ongi River Basin are likely
to extend to other regions of the country, which are also beginning to organize themselves in social
movements and community-based organizations.
One such organization is the Uuguul (“Native”) movement, established by dwellers of the South Gobi
region in 2005 to oppose the government’s Stability Pact with Ivanhoe Mines, which allows Ivanhoe to
retain 95 percent of extracted minerals. Uuguul also advocates reform of the Mongolia Mineral Law to
include stricter environmental standards for the mining industry. The “movement for Giving Half of Oyu
Tolgoi to Mongolians” (or the 50/50 Movement) is pressing for the equitable distribution of mineral
resources in Oyu Tolgoi. Toson Zaamar is a movement formed by herders to defend the sacred Barjin
Mountain against the activities of the Mongolian-Chinese mining company, AshB. 77 These organizations
have explicitly stated that they want “to bring their voice to the government and demand [that] … the
government leaves … their land alone” (interview with Liberty Center, April 2005).
During this study’s dissemination, the ORM chair listed several new and important developments in the
growth of the Mongolian environmental movement. He cited the creation of “Calls for Khongor Aimag”
to protect the aimag’s lakes and rivers in 12 soums; “Holy Stupor” [sic.] to protect Aokhon, Tamir, and
Tarniliin Rivers in Arkhangai aimag; “Huvsgul Lake Dalai Movement” to protect Huvsgul Lake; “Ardin
Elch Peoples Missionaries” to protect rivers in Selenge aimag; and “GToson Daamar” in Tuv aimag to
protect the Tuul River.
The leaders of the ORM deserve much of the credit for inspiring these movements, many of which they
advise informally and several of which they hope to incorporate into an umbrella organization of
environmental protection for Mongolia’s river systems. Their emergence indicates the urgency of
environmental concerns affecting Mongolia’s watershed and the perception that if citizens do not act,
mining activities will cause serious environmental decline. Whether these organizations achieve ORM’s
level of social accountability will depend upon their capacity to tap into political and financial resources,
as well as their ability to network and coordinate their activities (Finding ORM 7).
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: THE ONGI RIVER MOVEMENT
Finding ORM 1. Although access to significant and diverse resources, including extensive pro bono
contributions, have been critical to the success of the ORM, there are continuing concerns about its
sustainability and autonomy, especially in light of the limited resources they have been able to raise
through membership dues.
77 It has been suggested by various observers that the Zaamar movement’s campaign may be rooted more in economic concerns
and the anti-Chinese and anti-Russian sentiments of disaffected Ninja miners than in purely environmental concerns.
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