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• Based on findings and discussions with herders,
GRID-Arendal coordinated the development of a
joint UNEP/Mongolian/Russian GEF proposal for ap-
praisal in 2012 to address transboundary challenges
of southern taiga reindeer husbandry; and
• The Nomadic Herders project has provided input to
a report on pastoralism and land use change for the
2012 session of the UNPFII. The project is featured in
the UNFCCC’s Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Calendar
2012 (see cover and December pages),37 analysed as a
case study on ecosystem-based approaches to adap-
tation,38 and listed in the document Ecosystem-based
approaches to adaptation: Compilation of information
prepared for the 35th session of the UNFCCC Sub-
sidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice
(SBSTA) in December 2011.39
i The Nomadic Herders Project has contributed to
heightened awareness of threats and opportunities
faced by reindeer herders in Mongolia, primarily by
rectifying a serious knowledge gap among decision-mak-
ers and facilitating dialogue between stakeholders.
The key output in 2011, Changing Taiga: Challenges for
Mongolia’s Reindeer Herders, responded to a direct re-
quest from MNET to assess Mongolia’s reindeer hus-
bandry, and served as the proto-type for development of
the new GRID-Arendal publication series, “Portraits of
Transition (POT)”.
The participatory approach of the project, whereby rein-
deer herders in Mongolia are collaborators in planning
and implementation, has yielded major benefits in terms
of expanding community participation and redressing
gender bias. As reindeer husbandry in Mongolia is a
family-based livelihood with gender specific responsi-
bilities, the project has engaged both women and men
through workshops, mapping exercises, interviews and
discussions.
As a way of ensuring sustainability in the initiative, young
reindeer herders from Mongolia, Russia and Fennoscan-
dia have been actively engaged in project activities, pro-
viding unprecedented opportunity to exchange knowledge
and experiences with other herding communities. Thus
far, two young herders from Mongolia attended a seminar
on traditional knowledge in Kautokeino, Norway in March
2011, and three young herders from Norway and Sweden
were part of the delegation that visited Mongolia in June
2011. Fully in line with the concept of “free prior and in-
formed consent”40 promoted by the United Nations Dec-
A community meeting with the 14 families of Camp 1 takes place in the East Taiga, June 2011 (photo by Lawrence Hislop)
37.
38.
edge_resources_and_publications/items/6227.php
39.
40. Free, prior and informed consent (‘FPIC’) is generally understood
as the right of indigenous peoples to approve or reject proposed actions
or projects that may affect them or their lands, territories or resources.