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АРИДНЫЕ ЭКОСИСТЕМЫ, 2004, том 10, № 24-25
================= ОТРАСЛЕВЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ ЗАСУШЛИВЫХ ЗЕМЕЛЬ=============
УДК 631.445.57:577.4
СОЦИАЛЬНО-ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОЕ КАРТОГРАФИРОВАНИЕ И ОЦЕНКА СОВРЕМЕННОЙ СИТУАЦИИ КОЧЕВОГО СКОТОВОДСТВА В СОМОНЕ БУЛГАН С ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕМ ГИС-ТЕХНОЛОГИЙ
© 2004. Бернд Майснер, Свен Оэхм, Виктор Рыбаков, Даниэл Висс
Гео3 (ТФХ-Берлин - Университет прикладных наук) Люксембургер штр. 10; D-13353 Берлин
Со времени кардинальных реформ в 1990 г. национальная экономика Монголии подверглась значительным изменениям. При этом определяющую роль приобретает кочевое скотоводство, представляющее собой важнейший сектор экономики сельской Монголии. В течение ХХ века была утеряна большая часть традиционных знаний, касающихся кочевого скотоводства, включая маршруты кочевок и формирования стад. Это особенно касается так называемых новых кочевников, людей, ранее работавших в административной сфере, а сейчас заново практикующих «пасторализм». Но для восстановления непрерывного кочевого скотоводства необходимы традиционные знания. Если ими пренебрегают, нерациональное использование пастбищ может привести к деградации растительного покрова и изменению состава растительных сообществ, а отсюда к уменьшению биоразнообразия и продуктивности сельского хозяйства.
Изучение социально-экономической ситуации Булган-сомона является частью мультидисциплинарного проекта ЕС «Коперникус-2» - опустынивание Гоби, проводимого с помощью методов дистанционного зондирования и географических информационных систем (ГИС) в целях оценки и отслеживания процессов опустынивания в Монголии. Для этого с помощью GPS во время летних полевых сезонов 2001 и 2002 гг. картировалась такая географически привязанная тематическая информация, как расположение аилов (места стоянок во время кочевий, используемых часто несколькими поколениями) и сезонных пастбищ, а также распределение водопоев. Картирование выполнялось на основе космических снимков в масштабе 1:100 000 (Landsat 7-ETM+ 2002) и цифровой топографической информации (топографические карты), используемых для ориентации и навигации в полевых условиях. Помимо этого, с помощью опросов собиралась социально-экономическая информация; опросы проводились в аилах для оценки численности и состава поголовья, хозяйственной деятельности и маршрутов ежегодных перегонов скота. Вся пространственная информация была обработана и переведена в ГИС, где в дальнейшем методами обработки цифровых отображений могут быть выявлены изменения экосистем и их антропогеной нарушенности, распределение видов растений и состава растительных сообществ. Мониторинг деградации пастбищ ограничен тем, что он основан на анализе данных только двух сезонов (1990 и 2002), и годовая флуктуация количества выпавших осадков может влиять на продуктивность и состав растительных сообществ в большей степени, чем выпас скота. Однако в южной части Булган-сомона заметно усиление пастбищной активности. В этом регионе антропогенный пресс усиливается тем, что традиционный перегон скота требует больших затрат, которые не могут себе позволить бедные аилы, а многие пастбища не могут использоваться из-за недостатка водопоев. Негативное воздействие на существующие экосистемы также оказывает увеличение поголовья кашмирских коз из-за высоких цен на их шерсть.
GIS BASED MAPPING AND EVALUATION OF THE CURRENT SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION OF
PASTORALISM IN BULGAN SOMON
© 2004. Bernd Meissner, Sven Oehm, Victor Rybakov, Daniel Wyss
Geo3 (Georesearch at the TFH-Berlin - University of applied sciences) Luxemburger Str. 10; D-13353 Berlin
Introduction
The steppe grasslands of Mongolia comprise one of the largest grassland ecosystem complexes of the world. Over 70% of Mongolia's 1.5 million square kilometres falls into three major ecological zones: the desert steppe, steppe and mountain steppe. These grasslands support most of Mongolia's 30 million head of domestic livestock (camels, cattle, yaks, horses, sheep and goats). It has been estimated that over 78% of the total territory of Mongolia is under the risk of desertification, of which nearly 60% is classed as highly vulnerable. Over 70% of the total pastures have been already degraded through overgrazing as well as drought. Human factors contributing to the problems of desertification include poor pasture utilisation, inadequate livestock water supplies and soil erosion due to poor agronomic practices and mining activities. Despite the ecological, conservational and economic significance of Mongolia's grasslands, relatively little is known about the vegetation composition and dynamics of these ecosystems, this especially accounts for the desert steppe grasslands1.
To understand the current situation of pastoralism in Mongolia a short review of the historic development is necessary. Until the 1920s Mongolia was under the control of feudal rulers and the strong influence of Buddhism. In 1921 the "People's Revolution" marked the beginning of the strong Soviet influence on Mongolian development concerning all spheres of society. Even if it took several decades, in 1958 nearly the complete livestock were confiscated and collectivized in the so-called negdel2. Also in the 1950s the Somon3 and Aimag4 centres were built up to substitute the function of the monasteries which were abolished in the 1920s. The latter provided traditional services like education and healthcare and connected the herders to the markets. The nomadic herders had to adapt to a different way of living. In former times they were responsible for the whole organization process of herding, including livestock raising, choice of pasture, selling or exchanging of products, etc. During socialistic times specialists were introduced to the fields of herding, transportation, veterinary medicine, the building of wells and shelters as well as administration. The whole process was divided into many parts and the former independent herders became workers with salaries and vacations. Many of the former mobile herders settled down in the Somon and Aimag centres. It was the first time in Mongolian history that a division between mobile and settled population emerged5.
The Mongolian economic system has undergone considerable changes since the end of socialism in 1990. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the negdel were abolished and virtually all state-owned livestock had been privatised. For the herders privatisation resulted in loss of the formal institutions that regulated pasture use, in reduced social services, in declining trade and access to markets, in increased numbers of herding households and in greater poverty and differentiation in wealth.6 The transformation also brought economic difficulties for the settled population. For many of them the only solution was to leave the settlement and to go into the steppes to build up own herds and become mobile livestock keepers. For these so called "new nomads", people formerly working in the areas of administration and now practicing nomadism again it was hard to deal with the new circumstances. Much of the traditional knowledge concerning livestock keeping, including patterns of spatial movement and composition of herds, was lost during the socialist era. The increase of herding households and livestock (see Fig. 1) also lead to a greater pressure on existing pastures. As during most of the 1990s no regulation for pasture use was implemented, overgrazing and degradation of the vegetation cover resulting in decrease of agricultural productivity change of plant species composition and biodiversity can be observed in many parts of Mongolia.
1 Fernandez-Giménez, 2001, pp. 101 - 103.
2 Negdel = socialist herding collective.
3 Second highest administrative unit.
4 Highest administrative unit.
5 Schmidt, 1995, pp.73-100.
6 Fernandez-Giménez, 1999, p. 315.
Today this problem has been recognized and the pressure to find adequate solutions is rising. The mobility of nomads and their livestock in respect to the high spatial and temporal variability of the natural resource base can be seen as a main tool for sustainable natural resource management and as a precondition to development in arid ecosystems. To develop measures and recommendations for sustainable planning and to combat desertification processes, detailed spatial information concerning patterns of pastoral land use especially in relation to distance and frequency of seasonal nomadic movements are necessary.
Table 1. Number of herdsmen and livestock in Mongolia, 1990-2000*. Таблица 1. Число скотоводов и поголовья скота в Монголии, 1999-2000.
1990 1995 2000
Number of herdsmen households 74 710 169 308 191 526
Number of livestock (in thousands) 25 856,9 28 572,3 30 227,5
* Source: NSOM 2001, pp. 118; 132
Study area
The Bulgan Somon is located in the south Gobi Aimag between 102° 50' and 104° 10'E, and 43° 45' and 44° 50'N, approximately 500 Km south of Ulaanbataar. The road is not tarred so that it takes about one day by car to reach Bulgan Somon. The Somon has a total size of 7500 km2 with an elevation range of 1000 to 2600 meters over sea level. The highest elevation is found in the mountainous region (Gobi Altai) in the South. Unfavourable natural conditions (low and highly variable precipitation, high daily and seasonal variations of temperature, strong sand and dust storms) aggravate the risk of anthropogenic desertification. The Bulgan-Somon is divided into four Bags7, the Dal-Bag, the Den-Bag, the Chawzgaid-Bag and the administrative centre of Bulgan. Within its boundaries live approximately 2500 people divided into about 600 Ails%. 400 of these Ails are livestock owners with almost 100000 animals in total. The remaining 200 Ails live in the Somon- or Bag centres and work in the areas of administration, service or farming.
The limiting factor for all human activities within the Bulgan Somon is the lack of sufficient water supply. The problem of water supply is enhanced during severe drought periods (gan) such as during the years 2001 and 2002 with little to no precipitation and through the fact that many water wells are defect. In addition mining activities can be observed along the Ongi River, which runs to the Red Lake (Ulaan Nuur) to the NE of the Bulgan Somon. The private company Erel is mining gold and using much water for this purpose. Due to this activity the Red Lake and its hydrological system has dried out to a large extent.
Methods
Socio-economic data concerning the number of livestock and livestock composition only exists on Somon level and does not contain information on location and spatial distribution of livestock. Additional data had to be collected for the Bulgan Somon, which was based on qualitative interviews using well-prepared questionnaires and appropriate base maps for mapping and orientation in the field. The GPS (Global Positioning System) based mapping of geographic features such as Ails, existing water sources and winter pastures was performed on the base of satellite image maps (worksheets). The exact coordinates were available at all times with good accuracy. During the year 2001 satellite image maps were produced in a scale of 1 : 200 000 (SIM 200) and 1 : 100 000 (SIM 100) using Landsat 5 TM imagery of 1990 showing the band combination 7, 2, 1 (RGB) as well as a measured grid using Gauss-Kruger coordinates (map units). For the field trip in the year 2002 similar satellite image maps were produced based on Landsat 7 ETM+ imagery of 2002 but included a UTM grid for better navigation with the GPS device (Garmin 12). In addition to the satellite image maps, products were established which also contained reduced topographic information in vector format taken from topographic maps (TOPSIM) that were processed by MONMAP9. The worksheets exist in digital format and can be utilized for future mapping activities. The spectral information contained in the worksheets helped to distinguish areas with vegetation cover and were very useful to evaluate potential sites where a concentration of mobile livestock keepers could be assumed.
The questionnaire contained questions on the herd's size and composition, the spatial patterns of movement of the household and the economic activities, i.e. where animal products are sold and where supplementary food and consumer goods are bought. The actual households which had been interviewed
7 Third highest administrative unit.
8 Usually groups of one to three households, often including several generations of one family.
9 Geoinformation Technology Center, MONMAP Engineering Services, Mongolia.
were chosen on a random basis. After driving to the selected area every ger in sight was taken into consideration. Sometimes they were spread widely and sometimes they were situated within short intervals. This method implies that not all the existing Ails were mapped and that the evaluation of the socio-economic situation is based on exemplary locations. Nevertheless a concentration of pastoral activities can be observed around the Somon centre and in the SW part of Bulgan Somon (see Fig. 1). A total of 30 interviews were held with the help of a Mongolian interpreter. This was helpful not only for communication purposes but also to avoid cultural misunderstandings. In general it can be stated that the interview partners seemed willing to answer the questions. They showed much hospitality and always let us enter their ger10, which is the usual behaviour towards any visiting guest. However when it came to quantify the size of the herds it was difficult to get reliable numbers. This is based on the fact that the herders have to pay tax on each animal and are therefore not always willing to give exact information concerning size and composition of herds.
Spatial patterns of mobile Livestock keeping
Three groups of livestock keepers with different patterns of pastoral land use can be observed (see Fig. 2). The first group (G1) lives very close to the Somon centre within a maximum distance of approx. three kilometres. The group owns few animals which position's them in the poorer social category and mobile livestock keeping is performed within a radius of only a couple of kilometres. Even though this group is small, the impact on the natural resources is not to be neglected, as their animals graze on the very same grounds nearly all year round and there is no time for regeneration.
The second group of herdsmen (G2), including about 200 Ails, grow crops during the summer season. The cultivation of vegetables is becoming an important second economic pillar for many people in Bulgan Somon. But there is no real regulation concerning the use of water. Some people use much water causing scarcity for others. In many cases technical problems concerning the irrigation system exist such as leaking pipe systems or insufficient channel systems in the fields causing much water to evaporate before reaching the roots. There are four different sites where vegetables are grown. Altogether they cover an area of 24.5 ha. The largest site, with 11 ha, is situated on the edge of the Somon centre. The other sites are situated respectively seven, ten and seventeen kilometres east of Bulgan. As livestock keeping is getting more difficult, the economic value of crop production is becoming more important for some of the Ails. The livestock graze in the surrounding area or are taken to remote pastures either by household members or by paid herdsmen.
The third group (G3) is located between 20 and 40 km south or south-west of the Somon centre. Most winter pastures are situated north of the Gobi-Altai Foothill along the mountain range "The Three Beauties". In the summer these Ails usually move about 5 to 15 km northwards. There are two chains of water sources. One is located along the mountain range around which the Ails tend to settle in the wintertime, the other stretches in a northeasterly direction. During the summer months these Ails usually move several times to avoid overgrazing. During years with low precipitation or drought a higher frequency of moves becomes necessary. Usually the household remains settled within a maximum distance of approx. seven kilometres to permanent water sources. Sheep and goats on a daily basis cannot cover larger distances. If further distances have to be covered due to harsh climatic conditions, the direction is mostly to the NW and can reach up to 150 kilometres. Not all households can cover such large distances, as the costs for transportation are relatively high. If the distance to be covered is more than fifteen kilometres, which can usually be done by beasts of burden, it is necessary to find a truck and to pay for gas. In this case a direct link between the mobility of nomads and livestock and their financial situation can be observed. This inability to move has a large impact on natural resources resulting in overgrazing and degradation of pastureland.
The composition of the herds can be described as follows. The major part of the herds consists of sheep and goats. Usually the households own more horses than other large animals such as cattle or camels. In general it can be said that the Ails belonging to group one (G1) own less animals, often not exceeding 100 heads. Within the other two groups (G2, G3) there are large differences concerning the number of livestock. The numbers range between 100 and 500 animals per Ail. Figure 3 shows the development of livestock numbers from 1986 to 2000 within the Bulgan Somon. A significant increase in the number of livestock can be observed since 1886. The decrease of population numbers in some years is caused by extreme climatic conditions such as gan11 or dzud12. Two developments concerning the composition of livestock can be seen.
10 Mongolian felt tent, equivalent to the Russian yurt.
11 Drought.
The first is that the number of camels is gradually decreasing; the second is that the number of goats has increased by nearly 100%. Even if the percentage of goats within the herds has traditionally been high in this region the recent development must be seen as a reaction towards market economy and the rising Kashmir-wool prices.
Fig 1. Location of mapped Ails, water sources and winter pastures on the base of Landsat 7 ETM+, 2002. Рис. 1. Картографирование мест стоянок, водоисточников и зимних пастбищ с использованием Ландсат 7 ЕТМ+ 2002г.
Table 2. Livestock population in Bulgan Somon (1986 - 2000). Таблица 2. Численность поголовья домашнего скота в сомоне Булган (1986-2000 гг.).
Year Total Camel Horse Cattle Sheep Goat
1986 54958 4770 5031 1731 19627 23799
1987 60378 4809 5083 1859 21234 27388
1988 63179 4838 5056 1994 22328 28963
1989 66140 4941 4983 2002 22492 31722
1990 63725 4911 4269 1817 22100 30628
1991 66522 4901 4500 2103 22997 32021
1992 63756 4439 4657 2322 22431 29907
1993 63842 4303 5163 2241 21710 30425
1994 68921 4236 5742 2437 23276 33230
1995 80373 4363 6763 2891 26265 40091
1996 80413 4364 7260 2942 26487 39360
1997 91470 4398 8064 3170 29609 46229
1998 89824 4507 8553 3351 29777 43636
1999 96061 4636 9352 3323 32300 46450
2000 95289 4537 7582 2440 33409 47321
12 Dzud is the Mongolian name for extreme cold winters, sometimes combined with very high snow coverage.
Economic patterns
Selling Kashmir wool generates most income; 18.000 - 24.000 Tugrik13 (1000 Tugrik ~ 1 Euro, by 2002) is paid for one kilogram (kg). Each year approximately 300 grams (g) of Kashmir wool can be obtained from one goat. The price depends on the quality of the wool, demand and the place of sale. 100 Tugrik is paid for one kg of sheep wool. About 700-900 g can be taken from each sheep per year. A large degree of the obtained sheep wool is used for subsistence felt production. Further products, which are sold, are fleece, skins and some vegetables. Milk products are usually not sold for traditional reasons.
There are several possibilities to sell the products. One way to sell products is to mobile traders. These usually visit the Ails around May when Kashmir wool is sold. The prices paid tend to be low, as many Ails need cash immediately and have no other opportunities to sell the wool due to the lack of transportation facilities. The second possibility to sell products is the use of "Delguurs"14 which are situated in the Somon centres. Prices are usually slightly higher than those of the mobile traders. A further advantage is that the time of selling can be chosen more freely, making use of fluctuating market prices. This advantage can only be used by the Ails who can afford to wait before they sell their products. The Ails who need immediate cash to buy staple food or other essentials have to sell no matter how low the price is. The third possibility to sell the products is the market in the Aimag centre Dalanzadgad that is located about 100 km east of Bulgan. The prices obtained are higher than in Bulgan, but transportation to this remote market is expensive. In addition there is a psychological limitation to enter this market as little is known about its organisational structures, unless some family member is living there. The fourth and economically most attractive market is China but requires a high level of organisation, financial input and entrepreneurial spirit. A further obstacle lies in the semi-legal status of exporting animal products. Ulaan Bataar hardly plays a role as a market place unless family connections exist. The reason is the large distance, which has to be covered, so that China is overall more attractive.
Even though the markets play an important role for the Ails, they do not determine the concentration of people in specific areas. The choice of location is based on the quality of pastureland and distance to existing water sources. Since the end of socialism the wells and water sources are no longer maintained by the state. As the maintenance is not organized on a private base15, many wells are devastated and the pasture around them can no longer be utilized. Concentration processes around the remaining functioning water places are the consequence.
Comparison of multidisciplinary results
The results of the socio-economic investigations based on fieldwork during the years 2001/2002 reflect the current state of pastoralism in the Bulgan Somon in respect to size and composition of herds, spatial patterns of annual movement and concentration of Ails and water points. All spatial information (GPS-based mapping of locations using UTM-coordinates) and associated descriptive information based on the qualitative interviews held in the Ails have been processed using GIS software and relational database management systems (MS ACCESS) including a detailed photo documentation of the field trips. The thematic information can now be visualised and compared with other multidisciplinary information, which has been compiled within the EU project (Copernicus 2 "Gobi Desertification")16 using methods of GIS analysis such as data overlay. The additional GIS layers include multitemporal information on ecosystems and their anthropogenic disturbances (1990 / 2002), the distribution of plant species and composition of plant communities, the mapping of pastures as well as change detection based on multitemporal image processing. As a large variety of base information such as topographic and thematic maps and remote sensing data with different geometric accuracies, scale, projection information and quality has been used by the individual project partners, the data processing involved geometric correction and re-projection of available spatial information so all information can be displayed on the base of the geometrically corrected satellite imagery with the aim to assess the dynamics of vegetation degradation within the Bulgan Somon.
13 Mongolian currency.
14 Small shops.
15 Only one well with engine was taken care of by an Ail at their own commitment and expense.
16 Moskow State University (MSU) and Ural State University (USU), Russia; Institute of Biological Sciences, Mongolian Academy of Sciences (IB MAS), Mongolia; Geoinformation Technology Center, MONMAP Engineering Services, Mongolia; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Remote Sensing Laboratory (BGU), Israel.
An example of data overlay is given in figure 2 showing a generalized version of the mapping of ecosystems and their anthropogenic disturbances based on visual interpretation of landsat 7 ETM+ imagery and ground truthing performed by the Moskow State University (MSU) during the field trips 2002/2003. The anthropogenic disturbances displayed in the map show areas with heavy to very heavy degradation of natural resources. In order to compare the information with the socio-economic investigations a 5 km wide buffer17 (radius of 5 km around mapped features) was generated around all mapped Ails, water sources and winter pastures representing the approximate daily distance covered by goats and sheep.
The mapped anthropogenic disturbances on ecosystems correspond very well with the spatial patterns of mobile livestock keeping. This is especially visible within the area around Bulgan and in the southwestern parts of Bulgan Somon along the Gobi-Altai foothill, which reflects the general movements, and concentration of the nomads throughout the year. In addition a destabilisation of ecosystems can be observed along most roads, especially along the main road connecting Bulgan with Ulaanbaatar and the Aimag center Dalanzadgad which is most often caused by so called "multiple tracking". Most of the mapped Ails and winter pastures are located within the desert grassland ecosystems. Mobile livestock grazing is limited in the SW in areas with higher elevation where moderate dry steppe or dry steppe ecosystems dominate and in many northern parts of the Somon with desert steppe or steppe desert ecosystems.
The results of change detection are based on multitemporal image analysis using the satellite images from 1990 (Landsat 5 TM) and 2002 (Landsat 7 ETM+). The data processing was done by the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, (BGU) using various methods of image analysis such as analysis performed using Band 3 (Landsat) which is useful to detect chlorophyll absorption in vegetation, Tasselled Cap showing changes in respect to the degree of brightness, greenness and wetness and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index). NDVI can be used for vegetation monitoring and is calculated using the visible and near-infrared bands contained in the multispectral satellite imagery. The vegetation index exploits the property of green, vigorous vegetation to reflect strongly in the infrared band, whereas at the same time strongly absorbing in the red band. The differential reflectance in these bands provides a means of monitoring density and vigour of green vegetation growth using the spectral reflectivity of solar radiation.
0 5 10 ZD km
1_I_I_1—1_I_1—1_I
Fig. 2. Location of mapped features in respect to ecosystems and anthropogenic disturbances. Рис. 2. Картографирование особенностей экосистем и их антропогенной нарушенности.
17 Proximity analysis within a GIS environment.
In Figure 3, a generalised version of the results of image analysis is given, showing areas with low to high decrease for each analysis method in combination with the generated buffer zones around mapped features. In comparison with the mapping of ecosystems and their anthropogenic disturbances, less correspondence in respect to anthropogenic pressure and pasture degradation can be seen. This is especially obvious within the area around Bulgan and along the southern Gobi-Altai foothill where a high concentration of nomads can be noted. Areas showing a decrease in vegetation vitality are mainly to be found in the SE of Bulgan Somon, to the West and East of Bulgan as well as in the NE around the Red Lake (Ulaan Nuur).
It can be concluded that image analysis and the monitoring of desertification processes is questionable when based on only two years (1990 / 2002). This is mainly due to the fact that rainfall over time and space is extremely variable, particularly in the desert and desert-steppe zones. In these areas the interannual variability of rainfall may influence the productivity and composition of vegetation to a greater degree than does grazing pressure.
Fig. 3. Location of mapped features in combination with multitemporal image analysis. Рис. 3. Картографирование особенностей экосистем в комбинации с динамическим анализом снимков.
Conclusion
Since market economy took over in Mongolia the livestock numbers have increased dramatically. Even though significant decreases can be observed during years with extreme climatic conditions, the number of livestock can still be considered as high. A concentration of pastoral activities in some parts of Bulgan Somon can be observed. In these regions the anthropogenic pressure is enhanced by the facts that the traditional seasonal movement of herders is expensive and thus cannot be afforded by the poorer Ails, that many pastures cannot be utilized due to lack of water supply and that the number of ecologically questionable Kashmir goats is rising due to the high economic value of Kashmir wool. Since the end of socialism many organisational and infrastructural deficits are apparent. The maintenance of motor-driven wells from the socialist period is not anymore ensured by the government and private initiative to maintain existing wells is financially limited. As a result livestock are mainly watered at natural water holes causing problems during drought periods. Since water is the basic element for pasture utilisation a concentration of grazing pressure around functioning wells is apparent.
Regional rural development can only be achieved by a holistic approach including the reduction of the livestock number and the introduction of new legal regulations for securing an ecologically adapted pasture management. The improvement of the technical and social infrastructure including water management, education and human and veterinary medicine are necessary to ensure sustainable rural development and the continuity of mobile livestock keeping in Bulgan Somon. As an example, educational programmes in the field of agriculture could lead to higher productivity and reduce the pressure on grazing land. Basic services need to be provided in all rural areas to keep them attractive for herders. If this is not the case the danger of many people moving closer to Aimag or Somon centres, where these services are provided grows, enhancing the processes of concentration and land degradation.
The multidisciplinary data collected within the EU project "Gobi Desertification" can be seen as a good thematic and spatially corrected base for decision-making and implementation of rural action plans. Although the monitoring of desertification processes and dynamics of ecosystems is limited using methods of image analysis, a good scientific documentation of the current socio-economic and ecological situation of Bulgan Somon based on image interpretation and detailed fieldwork is given.
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