Small miners play essential role in safeguarding natural resources

Oyundelger 2016-10-17 01:10

Mining

Mongolia's small miners play essential role in safeguarding natural resources.

Mongolia's small miners play essential role in safeguarding natural resources. Over the last two decades, Mongolia’s mining industry has supported the country’s economic and industrialization agenda, catapulting the country to one of the world’s fastest growing economies in 2013. According to government statistics, mining and quarrying accounted for 23 percent of GDP in 2014, and by May 2015, mineral exports accounted for 87 percent of total exports. Mining exploitation has led to rapid soil erosion and degradation of both pastureland and watercourses, and as a result, has drastically altered the traditional livelihoods of local agrarian communities, many of whom still rely on conventional animal husbandry. To make matters worse, an ongoing economic downturn due to a significant drop in foreign direct investment in the mining sector, as well as low commodity prices globally, has fueled a rise in unemployment, and resulted in an increase in small-scale artisanal mining (ASM) activity in the country. There are an estimated 100,000 small-scale artisanal miners who work independently and comprise nearly 20 percent of Mongolia’s rural workforce. The Asia Foundation’s Engaging Stakeholders in Environmental Conservation Project (ESEC II), funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), has been working since 2013 to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of past and present mining practices. The project promotes the development of sound environmental practices at the local level to ensure that communities live in a healthy and safe environment and, at the same time, ensures that the employment opportunities that ASM creates are not taken away. Throughout 2014‑15, The Asia Foundation supported 17 frugal rehabilitation demonstration projects, and in 2016, through a co-financing initiative, local governments implemented 13 additional frugal rehabilitation projects.