Description:
Mongolia has made a number of international commitments to protect its biodiversity, including ratifying all major international biodiversity conventions. As of 2009, protected areas covered 14% of Mongolia, and the country had set a target to protect 30% of the territory before 2015 (WWF 2010). However, according to an assessment by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF 2010), there appears to be little capacity to manage and enforce measures effectively in protected areas across Mongolia. The country’s ecosystems and biodiversity, and thereby the livelihoods that depend directly upon these, are under considerable pressure from livestock land use practices, mining development, hunting, rapid urban expansion and climate change. In Hovsgol province, the most evident threats are illegal hunting, artisanal mining and logging.