Co-operation between Mongolia and Finland
- Forest Management Guidelines to Mongolia

Forestry Development Centre Tapio has co-operated to develop a first set of Forest Management Guidelines for Mongolia with personnel from the Forest Agency, the Mongolian Academy of Science and the Mongolian University of Science and Technology. The task was carried out as a part of the FAO project “Capacity Building and Institutional Development for Participatory Natural Resources Management and Conservation in Forest Areas of Mongolia”. Tapio’s assignment was to prepare basic guidelines for Forest User Groups (FUG) and Forest Units in Mongolia.

- Genghis Khan, wide steppes and the Gobi desert are perhaps what first come to mind when you hear Mongolia. As a fact the major part of Mongolia is steppe and desert, but it is a vast country and in the north the country is forested. The coniferous forests cover an area of some 11 million hectares growing more than one billion cubic metres of wood. The main tree species of the Taiga forest are Siberian Larch, Scots Pine, Siberian Pine and Asian White Birch, says Senior Expert on Sustainable Forest Management Johnny Sved from Tapio.

- Forests are state owned and Forest User Groups can apply for the tenure of forests. A typical group consists of 15 families with the right to use about 500 hectares of forest each. The concept of Forest User Groups is fairly new in Mongolia and the FAO has supported some of the formed groups. The groups now have concepts of governance, they make business plans and plan their activities and share the work according to the expertise within the group. The formation of Forest User Groups has had a positive effect in preventing illegal loggings and forest fires. The families take interest in the forests they manage and take care to protect the forests from damages.

The potential of the Mongolian forests are underestimated

To support sustainable forest management the groups need basic guidelines that are easy to understand and implement. In March 2011 Johnny Sved from Tapio stayed in Mongolia to formulate a first set of Forest Management Guidelines together with Professor Badarchiyn Samboo from the Mongolian University of Science and Technology. Mr Sved interviewed several forest experts in Ulan Bator and made two field trips. One trip was made to the north to Tujiin nars and Buteelin mountain range and one to north-east to Khentii mountain range.

- We worked on the Forest Management Guidelines in a very positive atmosphere. The Mongolian experts were willing to share their expertise and experiences of forestry in Mongolia. The members of Forest User Groups welcomed me and presented how they have tackled the management of the forests they administer. The members of Forest User Groups are eager to learn and expressed they would be both capable and willing to implement the guidelines with the help of local forest rangers, Sved says.

Finnish experiences and Mongolian conditions – new best practices to Mongolian forests

- I could see that the potential of the Mongolian forests is clearly underestimated. The forests are estimated to grow about one million cubic metres per year. With more intensive management and protection against damages, the figure would be several times higher, Sved estimates.

Experiences from Finland have been adapted to Mongolian conditions in these first Mongolian guidelines. As research in Mongolia produces new knowledge and as forestry develops, the guidelines should be further developed. The guidelines have now been printed on weather-proof paper in a handy format that fits well in the pockets of  the members of Forest User Groups and Forest units.

- If you need to check something up, the information shall be easy at hand. It is a good feeling to hold the result of our consultancy in my hand, Sved says. There are plans to continue collaboration between Mongolia and Finland in forestry, the next step is to strengthen the Mongolian forest research.

Further information:
Johnny Sved, Sr Expert on Sustainable Forest Management, +358 20 772 9205, johnny.sved@tapio.fi