They were nomadic herders long before the rise of Genghis Khan.<\/p>\n
For thousands of years<\/a>, Mongolian nomads have herded across the country\u2019s vast steppe grassland. It\u2019s a legacy they keep close today: Roughly 40 percent<\/a> of Mongolians still herd livestock, following traditions their ancestors have honored for millennia.<\/span><\/p>\n For these communities, adaptability is survival. Nothing is static \u2014 not the harsh weather, not the steppe and certainly not the people.<\/span><\/p>\n But the pace of change today is no longer seasonal.<\/span><\/p>\n Mongolia is warming more than three times faster than the global average. Between 1940 and 2015<\/a>, average temperatures rose by 2.24 degrees Celsius (4.03 Fahrenheit). For comparison, much of the rest of the world is struggling to hold warming below the dangerous threshold of 1.5 degrees C (2.7 F). Here in central Asia, that threshold was passed long ago.<\/span><\/p>\n The effects are unmistakable: longer droughts, vanishing water sources and a surge in brutal cold snaps known as dzuds<\/em> \u2014 sudden freezes that killed more than 7 million livestock<\/a> in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n But a new effort supported by Conservation International in Mongolia\u2019s Gobi Desert \u2014 one of the harshest landscapes on Earth \u2014 is helping herders restore fragile grazing lands that have been fractured by overgrazing and climate change.<\/span><\/p>\n Mongolian herders move with the seasons in gers \u2014 traditional felt tents also known as yurts.<\/em><\/p>\n One of the projects is centered in the Lakes Valley, a vulnerable ecosystem in the shadow of Ikh Bogd, a 4,000-meter (13,000-foot) mountain that towers above the steppe. Here, in the Erdenet Mal Sureg community, herders still rely on traditional strategies like seasonal movement and rotational grazing to survive the extremes.<\/span><\/p>\n With support from the start-up Good Growth<\/a> and funding from Conservation International\u2019s Regenerative Fund for Nature<\/a>, the community is pairing that deep knowledge with new tools to build resilience on a changing steppe.<\/span><\/p>\n It starts with trust.<\/span><\/p>\n Local herder, Munkhjargal, tends his flock of goats.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t change how they graze because someone shows up with a satellite map of all the degradation,\u201d said Jim Fitzpatrick, Conservation International\u2019s lead on the project. \u201cYou have to sit down, drink tea, hear their stories. You have to understand the land the way they do.”<\/span><\/p>\n Before introducing any new tools or approaches, Good Growth has spent time walking the land with herders \u2014 mapping valleys, marking where grass no longer grows, listening. Together, they are agreeing on what needs to change and where to start.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe must ensure any long-term plan belongs to the community,\u201d said Chultem Batbold, a scientist with Good Growth, who grew up on the steppe.\u00a0 \u201cIt has to come from what the community already practices \u2014 and build on it.”<\/span><\/p>\n Odonchimeg, a local herder, milks goats in the pen.<\/em><\/p>\n Mongolian herders move with the seasons, guiding their flock from summer pastures to sheltered winter grounds. These migrations aren\u2019t random \u2014 they\u2019re rooted in a deep, inherited understanding of the land\u2019s natural rhythms.<\/span><\/p>\n Through satellite monitoring, herders are beginning to receive early warnings about conditions on the ground \u2014 a pasture drying out, or the telltale signs of a dzud beginning to form. These real-time updates, shared through social media and mobile apps, could give herders a critical window to respond.<\/span><\/p>\n And more is on the horizon. Good Growth is working to develop a system that estimates how long a pasture can support grazing before it needs rest \u2014 using satellite images, machine learning and on-the-ground checks. The aim isn\u2019t just to react. It\u2019s to prevent pastures from reaching that breaking point in the first place \u2014 rotating grazing areas more intentionally, while ensuring that herd sizes don\u2019t balloon out of control.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor many families, this is all about cashmere \u2014 sometimes that\u2019s 90 percent of their income,\u201d Fitzpatrick said. \u201cAnd when the price drops, they can feel like their only option is to raise more animals just to make up the difference.”<\/span><\/p>\n Cashmere drives Mongolia\u2019s herding economy \u2014 and its environmental strain.<\/em><\/p>\n But that survival strategy is costly for nature. Cashmere goats are especially hard on the land \u2014 stripping vegetation down to the root.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOne option we\u2019re exploring with herders is selling livestock for meat, which has a more stable price and could reduce the number of animals they need to keep,\u201d Fitzpatrick said. \u201cWe\u2019re also working to create markets for other fibers \u2014 like camel or yak \u2014 so families have more ways to earn a living without adding pressure on the land.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Good Growth is working with global fashion brands to do just that \u2014 building a supply chain rooted in regeneration. Herders earn better prices for higher-quality fiber, while the land gets a chance to recover.<\/span><\/p>\n At the heart of all these efforts is balance \u2014 where economic resilience and ecological health, as well as the future and the past, are bound together.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur way of life depends on nature, so we\u2019ve always known we have to protect it,\u201d said Batbold. \u201cThat\u2019s part tradition, part belief \u2014 but at its core, it\u2019s simple: nature is alive, and if we harm it, it will answer back.”<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cicloud.imgix.net\/images\/default-source\/non-vault-images-s3\/02-mng-gers-image.jpeg?sfvrsn=eea1a19d_1&&auto=compress&auto=format&fit=crop?&auto=compress&auto=format&w=800\")
\u00a9 Jim Fitzpatrick<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cicloud.imgix.net\/images\/default-source\/non-vault-images-s3\/03-mng-father-herding-goats-2.jpeg?sfvrsn=ffaff237_1&&auto=compress&auto=format&fit=crop?&auto=compress&auto=format&w=800\")
\u00a9 Jim Fitzpatrick<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cicloud.imgix.net\/images\/default-source\/non-vault-images-s3\/06-mng-mother-goat-milking.jpeg?sfvrsn=b7ae8f4_1&&auto=compress&auto=format&fit=crop?&auto=compress&auto=format&w=800\")
\u00a9 Jim Fitzpatrick<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cicloud.imgix.net\/images\/default-source\/non-vault-images-s3\/07-mng-combed-cashmere.jpeg?sfvrsn=bfbae743_1&&auto=compress&auto=format&fit=crop?&auto=compress&auto=format&w=800\")
\u00a9 Jim Fitzpatrick<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cicloud.imgix.net\/images\/default-source\/non-vault-images-s3\/05-mng-ger-and-goats-from-above.jpeg?sfvrsn=40b7a014_1&&auto=compress&auto=format&fit=crop?&auto=compress&auto=format&w=800\")