Gender, Land and Mining in Mongolia WOLTS Research Report No.1 January 2018 Daley, E., Lanz, K., Narangerel, Y., Driscoll, Z., Lkhamdulam, N., Grabham, J., Suvd, B. and Munkhtuvshin, B. Gender, Land and Mining in Mongolia – WOLTS Research Report No.1 – January 2018 Citation: E. Daley, K. Lanz, Y. Narangerel, Z. Driscoll, N. Lkhamdulam, J. Grabham, B. Suvd & B. Munkhtuvshin, 2018, Gender, Land and Mining in Mongolia, UK: Mokoro Ltd & PCC Mongolia Text © WOLTS Team. All photo credits © WOLTS Team. Mokoro Ltd, The Old Music Hall, 106-108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE UK; +44 1865 403179; [email protected] Gender, Land and Mining in Mongolia – WOLTS Research Report No.1 – January 2018 Acknowledgements This report is the result of the combined efforts of the WOLTS Mongolia Team. We acknowledge and thank all those whom we interviewed and shared discussions with during our research in Mongolia between November 2015 and October 2017 – from the Government of Mongolia, civil society and international organisations, the private sector, and all the communities we visited. We deeply appreciate their support for our work, their willingness to participate and their invaluable contributions to helping us learn about gender, land pastoralism and mining in Mongolia today. We are especially grateful for the engagement and hospitality of the people of Bornuur and Dalanjargalan, our two study communities that feature in this report. We also thank our team driver during all of our fieldwork in Mongolia, Erdenebat, R., for his warmth, good humour and GPS-like brain. Bayarlalaa! iii Gender, Land and Mining in Mongolia – WOLTS Research Report No.1 – January 2018 iv Gender, Land and Mining in Mongolia – WOLTS Research Report No.1 – January 2018 Contents List of Abbreviations and Acronyms ...................................................................................................... ix Glossary of Mongolian Terms ............................................................................................................... xi Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 National Context ................................................................................................................................... 2 Historical context .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Political and economic context .................................................................................................................................... 4 The legal framework around land ................................................................................................................................ 7 Gender equality and vulnerable groups ....................................................................................................................... 9 Policy and legal framework ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Gender equality indicators and divisions of labour ............................................................................................... 10 Governance framework of the mining sector ............................................................................................................ 12 Artisanal and small-scale mining............................................................................................................................ 14 Impacts of large- and small-scale mining ............................................................................................................... 16 Changing tenure and management of pastureland ................................................................................................... 17 Community Case Studies ..................................................................................................................... 20 Methodology .............................................................................................................................................................. 21 Bornuur Soum .................................................................................................................................... 23 Location and population ............................................................................................................................................. 23 Bornuur’s four baghs ............................................................................................................................................. 24 Recent history of economic and population change .................................................................................................. 25 Transition from socialism ....................................................................................................................................... 26 Livelihoods and gender relations ............................................................................................................................... 27 Marriage and family situation ................................................................................................................................ 27 Education ............................................................................................................................................................... 29 Relative wealth and poverty .................................................................................................................................. 30 Housing .............................................................................................................................................................. 30 Possessions ........................................................................................................................................................ 31 Electricity, water and sanitation ........................................................................................................................ 31 Transportation ................................................................................................................................................... 32 Main livelihoods ..................................................................................................................................................... 32 Herding .............................................................................................................................................................. 36 Crop farming ...................................................................................................................................................... 37 Gender relations .................................................................................................................................................... 39 Mining companies and artisanal mining..................................................................................................................... 41 Effects of mining .................................................................................................................................................... 42 Legalisation of artisanal miners ............................................................................................................................. 44 Back to illegality ..................................................................................................................................................... 45 Land scarcity, land concentration and environmental degradation .......................................................................... 46 Degradation of pastureland and water sources .................................................................................................... 48 Forests.................................................................................................................................................................... 49 Land allocation processes ........................................................................................................................................... 50 Housing plots ......................................................................................................................................................... 52 Vegetable and fodder plots ................................................................................................................................... 55 v Gender, Land and Mining in Mongolia – WOLTS Research Report No.1 – January 2018 Land disputes ......................................................................................................................................................... 56 Pastureland management .......................................................................................................................................... 58 Access to winter and summer camps and grazing areas ....................................................................................... 59 Haymaking areas .................................................................................................................................................... 61 Difficulties faced by female-headed herder households ....................................................................................... 63 Conclusions from Bornuur .........................................................................................................................................