MONGOLIA

Mongolia has 10-13 million ha of forest. During the Communist era, the government adopted Russian forest management principles with the focus on wood production. More recently, and particularly since the return to a market economy, conservation and forest rehabilitation have become the main focus of forest management. This has included preliminary steps to devolving management to community collectives, which are granted 20-40 year user rights.

A Forest Law was enacted in 1995, which is based on social equity, economic viability and environmental sustainability. This law requires logging enterprises to undertake regeneration activities in harvested areas, although only 10% of harvested areas are being reforested. Logging is prohibited on steep slopes, in forests around large cities, near major rivers and in sub-alpine forests. There are plans to include additional forests in protection zones and reserves, focusing on areas rich in biodiversity, ecologically sensitive areas, and areas important for watershed protection and the protection of endangered species. Harvesting licenses are only issued if economic efficiency and forest regeneration can be demonstrated.

Despite having management policies in place, Mongolia lacks the technology and resources to fully implement them. Illegal logging is widespread and results from poverty, a growing domestic market (particularly for construction), a lack of effective enforcement, poor control over forest resources, a lack of accurate forestry data and a lack of capacity and training. One million ha of forest has been lost in the last 30 years.

However, Mongolia has started work on the FLEG process, and has held stakeholder consultations with government institutions, forest user groups, the timber industry and NGOs. A draft national action plan has been drawn up and a steering committee established to work on the development of verification systems, the domestic market, a legality standard, a chain of custody system, and monitoring mechanisms.

PRESENTATIONS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
17/01/2008	The Initiation of the Mongolian ENA-FLEG Process: The First Multi-Stakeholder Commencement Meeting	Stefan Teusan, GTZ
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01/11/2007	Illegal Timber Harvest in Mongolia	Mongolian Nature and Environment Consortium (B Erdene-Ochir)
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EVENTS

DATE	TITLE
Monday 13th October 2008	Bucharest: Expert Meeting on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance An expert meeting on forest law enforcement and government took place in Bucharest between the 13th and ...
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