Herders from both the East and the West Taiga are concerned about the environmental changes that are taking place in their homeland. They report that snow seems to take longer to melt during springtime. Summers seem shorter and hotter, making it more challenging for the reindeer that prefer cooler temperatures. Patches of snow and ice that used to last through summer are now disappearing in mid-July. The rivers have less water and the ...

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 e...

Despite the changing political landscape of Mongolia over the last hundred years, the traditional reindeer herding system has been maintained. Nevertheless, recent political and economic transitions and upheavals have altered the Dukha community’s way of life and relationship with their natural environment and the herders now face an uncertain future.

Pastoralism, or extensive grazing on rangelands for livestock production, is a key production system of the world’s dryland areas. It provides a livelihood for between 100 and 200 million people (CBD Secretariat 2010), supplies 10% of the world’s meat production through approximately one billion heads of livestock, and makes a significant economic contribution to some of the world’s poorest regions (FAO 2001; WISP 2010).

Mongolia geopolitical map

Guided tours to the reindeer herders are an established tourist attraction promoted by national and international tourism companies. In the West Taiga, tourists stay in tourist camps established beside the Shishged River, outside the summer pasture area. Herders from Camp 1 in the East Taiga prefer pastures close to the sum centre from May to September so that their camps are easily accessible to tourists. Apart from sporadic income fro...

Mongolia’s taiga is located at the southern edge of the biome in Eurasia. It is also the most southerly location of reindeer husbandry in the world. Mongolian reindeer husbandry occurs within the Shishged River watershed of the Altai-Sayan, the largest mountain range in southern Siberia. Straddling the Republic of Tuva on the Russian/Mongolian border, it is recognized as an area of global importance for terrestrial biodiversity.

Ebola is a major threat particularly to the gorillas, with severe casualties following outbreaks. As these come in addition to deaths from poachers and habitat loss, the outbreaks can become detrimental.

FAO Food Price Index

In the past decade the Asia-Pacific region has become the largest consumer of natural resources in the world. This includes water, raw materials and energy resources. Water resources are unevenly distributed in the region. With climate change increasingly causing drought and precipitation, enhanced water efficiency and management is a challenge not only for direct water users, water managers and policy makers, but also for business and consu...

Energy eciency in Asia selected countries

Water withdrawal by Industry sector in selected Asian countries

Average water consumption and water treatment facilities in selected Asian cities

Extreme vulnerability to natural hazards among countries in South Asia is cyclical and repeatedly causes major setbacks in the socioeconomic and equitable development of the region. According to UN estimates major disasters may cut the GDP of countries in the region by up to 20 per cent. Climate change is expected to increase both the frequency and magnitude of hazards leading to disasters. It calls for speedy action to help communities...

Proportion of population using an improved sanitation facility in Asia

Ecological water footprint of Asian countries

Trans-boundary collaboration in parks in the greater Congo Basin.

Degree of protection of terrestrial ecoregions and large marine ecosystems (per cent)

Hunting inside protected areas to supply bush- meat is extensive in many regions, and much is transported by bicycle to i.e. larger towns like Kindu. The great apes, sometimes smoked, constitute up to several percent of the total bushmeat, but with devastating impacts on the great ape populations with their slow reproductive rates and complex social structure.