Bufferzone development
Buffer zone development includes work in the following four areas:
- Changing attitudes
- Making legal adjustments
- Training to improve local communities’ capacities
- Supporting the initiative’s sustainability
Changing attitudes
This work includes comprehending herders’ understanding and knowledge of topics such as:
- Pasture and land use issues
- Climate change
- How to change local customs
- Importance of conservation
- Importance of the sustainable use of natural resources
To accomplish this work, meetings with herders are essential as is the understanding of how this work will affect herder families, including the men, women and children.
Making legal adjustments
This work includes several key elements:
- Creating herder communities
- Using pastures only after contracts between herder communities are agreed upon
- Providing areas for cropland
- Identifying buffer zone council members
- Developing regulations
- Developing management plans and implementing agreed-upon terms
Training to improve local communities’ capacities
Many classes have been presented in local communities. Examples include training on how to:
- Organize the community
- Estimate family income and expenses
- Make felt and felting products
- Process sheep wool
- Establish community-based tourism
- Train horse guides for tourists
- Design and make traditional Mongolian regalia
- Plant vegetables in green gardens
- Preserve vegetables
- Cultivate sea buckthorn
- Manage farms
- Make handicrafts
- Make agreements throughout the community
Supporting the initiative’s sustainability
As shown below, between 2004 and 2017, the Buffer Zone Developing Fund provided the Hustai National Park Trust with approximately 600 million tugrik (approximately $244,500 in U.S. dollars) in loans (at a rate of 0.5% per month) to support these initiatives. Projects have included green gardens for six communities, fences, berry bushes, fairs, potato seeds, training, materials and equipment. In addition, Altanbulag, Argalant and Bayanhangai soums each received grants from the Buffer Zone Developing Fund. From 1995 to 2010, soums received a total of 515.7 million tugrik (approximately $211,000 dollars) in grants.
Grants by million tugrik
| Soum | 1995 – 2000 | 2001 – 2005 | 2005 – 2010 | Total |
| Altanbulag | 34.467 | 44.253 | 95.611 | 174.331 |
| Argalant | 24.975 | 55.581 | 100.973 | 181.529 |
| Bayankhangai | 30.436 | 35.900 | 93.516 | 159.852 |
| Total | 89.878 | 135.734 | 290.100 | 515.712 |
