Gobi Oasis Tree Planting Project

Gobi Oasis is a small, family run, non-profit conservation project that has been operating since 1975 in Mandalgobi, Dundgobi Province. Their main conservation work is the planting of seedlings and nurturing them into trees. Although trees in Mongolia have a long growing period (Mongolia, on average, experiences only 90-120 frost free days a year), within a couple of years and with constant care in their early development, many will become established trees. They help to bind the loose soil and thus are effective against erosion, help reduce wind, dust and desertification, attract rainfall and help build suitable conditions for biodiversity – all very important in the (increasingly) desert environment of Mandalgobi.

Each group typically plants a tree at the nursery – EL and our guests have now planted over 120 of our own trees which represents around 3% of the total number of trees planted at Gobi Oasis. A single young tree can absorb 26 pounds of CO2 per year so we’re (very) slowly doing our bit towards managing carbon emissions. 

For each person (EL guest and Mongolian team member) we send to Gobi Oasis we make a financial donation.

Annual Terkhiin Tsaagaan Nuur National Park Community Clean Up

What’s it all about?!

Mongolia is frequently sold by tour companies as being a pristine untouched wilderness. It’s not. But, with Mongolia’s scenic beauty and wilderness experience being key points behind why people visit Mongolia, preservation of these values is a prerequisite for sustainable travel here in Mongolia. Much of Mongolia’s tourism sector, in fact, depends in the long term on the preservation of the country’s cultural and physical landscapes.

Unfortunately in Mongolia (as with elsewhere in the world), there has been a noticeable increase in the amount of rubbish that is discarded. A majority of our clients commented on it so I decided to do something about it…..and make it part of our philosophy and a feature of the EL calendar. For the past four years, Turuu and I have arranged for members of the Tariat community to spend two days clearing the north-shore (and surrounding area) of Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park.

Why Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park?

We picked Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur due to the strength of our contacts there. We wanted a community involvement and Jargaa and Batbold (our hosts at Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur and owners of Surtiin Tulga Eco Camp) are at the centre of their local community.

Batbold and Jargaa at their home – the Surtiin Tulgan Eco Ger Camp. Together with their delightful grandson Anand and Jess of EL.

Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur is popular with Mongolian families making the most of the five-day annual Naadam holiday. And this is where rubbish, human waste, and campfires had degraded the environment over the course of several years as visitor numbers have increased. Discarded rubbish is a major issue for the local rural communities as many of them lack the funds and resources to collect the rubbish.

That’s the basic combination that inspired Turuu and I to arrange and facilitate a trial clean-up in 2014 at the Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park and then to repeat it in 2015, 2016,  2017 and 2018. We wanted to see the differences. And gladly there were.

2014!

2015!

2016!

2017!

2018!

Working Together

Our suggestion of two-days dedicated to cleaning up waste were welcomed by the administration of the Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park back in 2014 and the joint effort was planned. It is still warmly welcomed and we meet with the governor of Tariat sum – Altan Ochir to discuss the event.

As with each year, we pay a small financial incentive to each person involved – including unemployed locals and nomadic herders who make their home in the area who volunteer to come and join us. We are also joined by the protected area rangers. We obtain the local town (15-ton) rubbish truck and pay for the fuel and the driver. We provide a cooked lunch on both days as well as urns of tea. AND! Between us (each year) we fill the rubbish truck. The end of clean-up party was rather monumental – sorry, the vodka was flowing so we have no photos. But, we have been awarded our first EL Өргөмжлөл – Certificate of Merit or Tribute. An extremely proud moment. And here’s evidence of what we achieved in 2017.

There is no way we can ‘jazz’ up this image to make it more attractive! This is mid-way through Day Two on our 2017 two-day rubbish collected