Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

Grazing management in Mongolia 295
ried staff took to herding with stock allocated to them from negdel break-up,
but not all succeeded: 100-150 head is considered to be the threshold herd size
for a reasonable living; 50 is the poverty line. In 1995, over 40 percent of households
had under 50 head, 45 percent had over 100, and only 15 percent owned
over 200 animals. Controlled grazing has gone – in some areas pasture use is
anarchic, with immigrant herders trespassing on the traditional lands of others.
At neighbourhood and community levels, other customary institutions have
re-emerged. Groups provide an approach to regulating access to grazing. They
are often kinship-based and related to a natural grazing management unit, such
as a valley, or, in dry areas, a water source. Hay and fodder are now negligible
– overwintering survival depends on autumn condition and herding skills.
Extensive herding , of course, continues, but the controlled grazing of the
collective period has gone. The transition has, however, given women a far
greater role in decision-making since under the collective all the governmental
bodies were overwhelmingly male although many veterinarians are women;
women now take an active role in management and especially marketing.
Water is a determining factor in pasture use, especially in the steppe and
Gobi regions (the mountain -steppe often has plentiful surface water); some
areas can only be grazed in winter when snow is available as a water source;
elsewhere wells supply, or used to provide, water; in the Gobi, herders’
movements are governed by watering places. Breakdown of most of the deep
“mechanical” water points has rendered many areas inaccessible, especially in
the eastern steppe, where gazelle numbers are increasing as they colonize the
deserted grazing .
Much pasture is not used or is under-used. According to studies by FAO
project TCP/MON/0066, as much as one-third of the total may be under-used.
These pastures include areas along the borders, where there are problems of
stock theft ; in the eastern part, infrastructure is poorly developed and social
problems of herders have not been solved; and in parts of western Mongolia
there is not enough water and other living materials. In 1990–1997, about 600
new wells were sunk, but 12 800 remained out of operation; 10 700 000 ha of
pasture can not be used because of lack of water. Most unused land is far from
administrative centres and many herders are increasingly loath to travel so far,
especially when infrastructure is deficient. In western Mongolia, where there
is shortage of pasture, there are large areas that could be used as joint pasture
between aimags , yet they are not fully used.
All herding families now keep multispecies herds, i.e. have at least three
kinds of livestock that each comprise over 15 percent of the herd; subsidiary
species are those forming under 10 percent, such as camels in many areas and
yak in the foothills of the mountain -and-steppe zone. Multispecies herds have
many advantages, but increase the labour needed for herding. The different
species vary in their grazing habits and preferences, so therefore a mixture
makes better use of the overall forage available. Yak and horses, for example,