Photo credit: Ronnie Vernooy (IDRC).

THE COUNTRY AND THE ISSUES

Mongolia is a country with an extreme, continental climate. Located in Central Asia, it is bordered by Russia on the north and China on the east. With an area of approximately 1.56 million km2 and a population of 2.4 million, it is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world (0.6 person/km2). Grasslands, which make up about 82 per cent of the land area, are home to 24 million head of livestock (83 per cent goats and sheep, 17 per cent horses, cattle and camels) and 176,000 herder families (MNE 2002). Grasslands are the principal renewable natural resource in Mongolia, but they are fragile, highly susceptible to degradation and very slow to recover when degraded.

Historically and traditionally, private ownership of pasture land does not exist. Grasslands have always been state property and are used by herders or other groups according to their needs. During the Soviet era (1921–90) citizens had no right to own livestock. In exchange for a salary, they used state pasture lands to herd state animals based on seasonal grazing schedules and the pasture use regulations prescribed by collectives and state entities. In the early 1990s Mongolia began its transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy, promoting democracy, decentralization and privatization. As a result of the privatization process, all livestock have been privately owned since 1992; grasslands, however, remain state property and are shared. Between 1992 and 2000 herder households increased 2.5-fold and livestock numbers increased by 17.5 per cent. At the same time, pasture management authority and responsibility devolved to the local level governments and herders.

According to some estimates, more than 76 per cent of the country's pasture lands are overgrazed and subject to desertification. The underlying forces causing these problems are considered to be climate change due to global warming; the increase in livestock after privatization (numbers continued to increase sharply until 1999); and the uncontrolled concentration of animals around water sources, settlement areas, hay lands and seasonal camps. Experience shows that herders like to increase their herd size and livestock numbers as a means of survival in a competitive market environment. Pastures and grasslands are a common resource and have low entry costs compared with other economic opportunities. After the breakdown of the state entities in 1992, this led many people to get into herding.

Problems

Overgrazing of grasslands and related natural resource management issues are serious issues that affect the ecological carrying capacity and management of all natural resources. The situation has become worrisome, both from a socioeconomic and an ecological point of view. The overuse of natural resources has a negative impact on the living conditions of herder families who depend on these resources. However, not all herder families are the same, and within families social dynamics vary (Ykhanbai et al. 2004).

Although both women and men play important, but different, roles in the management of natural resources in Mongolia's nomadic pastoralism, women's participation in natural resource use, decision making and implementation has been undervalued. In research and policy making, women's knowledge and abilities are often overlooked (Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour 2002). Only recently has women's participation in natural resource management been taken into consideration, and recognition of their work and key contributions is gradually increasing. Women are also slowly receiving more support for their activities.

TOWARD THE CO-MANAGEMENT OF GRASSLANDS

Co-management refers to shared decision making by (organized) herders and government. We believe that co-management of pasture and livestock herds is the best option in Mongolia. Pastures are used as a common resource and although private ownership of livestock is allowed (providing herders with the opportunity to develop a business-oriented livelihood), purely individual management is not in line with the carrying capacity of pastures. Individual management infringes on the interests of neighbouring herders who depend on the same resource base, and state ownership of grasslands requires government regulation of their use. The lack of capacity of herders and local government to manage the resource base sustainably requires participation and support of other stakeholders and sectors.

Several national policies and laws affect community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) and co-management of grassland resources. The new Land Law (2002) introduces long-term pasture use contracts for herder groups and communities, and the involvement of local governments. These contracts are only recognized if roles and responsibilities to ensure sound use, restoration and protection of the grasslands are defined jointly by herders and governors. In addition, in the Land Law and other legal documents, local governors are given the responsibility and the right to resolve conflicts concerning herders' movements between neighbouring districts (in Mongolia there about 330 districts or sums) and provinces (aimaks).

The Sustainable Management of Common Natural Resources in Mongolia project—which is supported by IDRC and is being implemented by the Ministry of Nature and Environment (MNE) in collaboration with other ministries, agencies and NGOs—aims to improve herds, grasslands and natural resource management by implementing co-management approaches at selected study sites (Figure 7.1). The project is addressing this challenge using a combination of participatory and action-oriented field research in three of Mongolia's major ecosystems, representing varying degrees of population pressure and market access (Ykhanbai and SUMCNR Project Team 2004). Currently, more than 10 community or herder groups exist in the project area, with 13 to 32 herding families in each group.

Each group is considered a relatively homogeneous economic or social unit in terms of characteristics such as family, language, history, ecosystem and grassland area managed. At the selected study sites all stakeholders are participating in the co-management activities. Co-management agreements between the community and its members, and between the community and local governors are documented, with roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders agreed to during formal and informal meetings and discussions. A series of action research tools was used from the beginning, allowing individuals and others to understand one another better.

Sum-level co-management teams were established at each study site. They consist of representatives of herders, communities, local governors,

Figure 7.1
Location of the Study Sites

Source: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection.

NGOs, schools and other local organizations, as well as researchers from the project team.

In each community co-management contracts were established between the herders and the community (community contracts) and between the community and the subdistrict (bag) and district governors (herder–government contracts). These contracts can be revised anytime and are one of the elements of our adaptive management approach.

Herders are more likely to cooperate in pasture management when they also have an interest in working together on other activities that have a more immediate bearing on their livelihoods. Thus, the project team is also supporting and facilitating a number of other activities to improve livelihoods. These include: first, training in pasture management, natural resource management, vegetable growing, raw material processing, handicrafts, sewing, reforestation, seeding of hay lands, and participatory monitoring and evaluation. Second, the team encourages networking and experience sharing between groups, for example, through participation of herders in inter-site meetings and farmer-to-farmer visits. And third, the team provides institutional support, including small credit schemes, community funds, community projects, an information database in the sum centres, and supporting the set-up of community rules, community councils and women's groups.

INTEGRATING SOCIAL AND GENDER ANALYSIS

Our work follows a CBNRM approach, which implies the involvement of local people (both women and men) in all stages of the research work and cycle—analysis, planning, decision making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Social and gender analysis (SAGA) is used to identify and analyse the various roles, responsibilities and interests of women and men in pastoralism and other areas of natural resource management. In nomadic pastoralism women and men both play important roles in the management of natural resources. However, women's participation in natural resource use, decision making and implementation must be recognized more fully and their contributions valued more adequately. In many cases, women's knowledge and abilities are neglected.

Gender analysis allows one to identify and understand the different and changing roles, responsibilities and interests of women and men in pastoralism, agriculture, forestry and other natural resources domains (for example, hunting and gathering) (CBNRM Program Initiative 1998). Gender analysis highlights the human factor in natural resource management and shows that women's perceptions and interests are not fully included in decision-making processes at the family and community levels. Customs, tradition and religion play an important role in this regard. In Mongolia women assume many responsibilities for taking care of their families, tutoring the young, preparing food, making essential family goods, herding livestock and processing livestock products. Hence, their role and importance in promoting sustainable development for future generations are paramount.

A CBNRM approach is also concerned about action and fostering positive change. From a SAGA perspective, this means that women may need special attention in terms of support, training and other activities, and their decision-making roles need to be supported and strengthened. This leads us to an action-based agenda based on this understanding (McAllister and Vernooy 1999).

Our Agenda: Questions, Theory of Action and Methods

Our main research question was how to include the perceptions (ideas, interests and suggestions) of women's groups in more equitable co-management agreements for the use of pastures and other natural resources.

Our efforts were guided by the following key questions:

1. What does SAGA in natural resource management research mean for different stakeholders?

2. What key capacities are required by different stakeholders to allow SAGA?

3. What are the enabling and constraining factors?

The theory of action guiding our work included, first, to study the perceptions of stakeholders, including women's groups, and to identify the problems that women and men in the communities face. In particular, we aimed to pay attention to differences between women and men in perceptions, motivation and values regarding co-management. Based on the results of this step, we planned to support women's groups in the communities as a means to encourage economic and political empowerment. At the same time, we aimed to study how to implement effectively the concept of co-management and consider equity issues, focusing on women and men in decision-making activities and processes. We also planned to provide training to women to support their full involvement in the participatory action research. This study is one of the first research and development activities in Mongolia regarding the participation of women and men in natural resource management.

We expected the action research to result in:

1. Identification of women's and men's roles and responsibilities in the implementation of co-management and increased women's involvement in co-management teams at the sum level.

2. Assessment of women's and men's contributions to family income.

3. Consideration of the roles and responsibilities of women's groups in the whole process of contracting, implementation and monitoring of co-management agreements.

4. Identification of the enabling and constraining factors in herders' families in terms of various livelihood opportunities and development of alternatives for testing.

5. Exchange of experience by women's groups at the three study sites and learning from each other through cross-visits.

6. By the end of study period, establishment of co-management agreements between the community and the herders' families, the community and bag governor, the community and sum governor, and their revision according to the reviewed roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders.

7. Special production activities, mainly by women, to allow additional income benefits to women and their families.

8. Small revolving credit schemes managed by women (and by women and men together) with special attention to the poorer households.

We intended to involve and engage women's groups at the community level, other community members, bag and sum government officials, and NGOs. The role of the project team was to facilitate activities and carry out research in cooperation with the various stake-holders. Proposed activities in the community included: facilitating discussions among the herders' families; forming and supporting a women's group in each community for joint discussions about the inclusion of women's perceptions in the co-management agreements; and clarifying the roles and responsibilities of women and men in herder families. In addition, we planned to build capacity for taking responsibility in co-management agreement items in terms of implementation and monitoring of rules, rights and obligations, and organizing exchange visits between women's groups at the three study sites.

THE FIELDWORK

Study Sites

Mongolia with its vast land area, contains five main ecoregions: desert-steppe, steppe, mountain-steppe, steppe-forest and forest. Our project focused on the mountain-steppe, steppe and steppe-forest ecosystems in three sums.

Khotont sum in Arhangay aimak is in the Khangai steppe and steppe-forest ecosystem. This area enjoys strong neighbourhood support and social life, and the cultural, nomadic lifestyle tradition of the Khalha (the majority ethnic group in the country), women who are active in the co-management of natural resources, and a rich ecosystem, including taiga steppe and forest resources. The most urgent problem is that in some areas the number of animals exceeds the pasture's carrying capacity by 1.2 to 2.3 times in the spring and summer seasons. Continued over-grazing is not sustainable.

Deluin sum in Bayan-Ölgiy aimak is in the Mongolian Altai mountain and steppe ecosystem. Opportunities include the chance to build on the traditionally nomadic pastoralism culture of the Kazakh ethnic group, a strong pasture division system, and joint management of pasture and natural resources based on kinship relations. In 2002 livestock exceeded the capacity of the pastures in this area by 20 per cent, and this situation remains largely unchanged.

Lun sum in Töv aimak in the central Mongolian steppe ecosystem has good business opportunities and greater educational opportunities for women. Mixed ethnic groups represent incomers from other regions and ecosystems of the country. The most urgent problem in Lun is the very high density of animals owned by local herders, largely explained by its proximity to Ulaanbaatar, the national capital. The area is also visited by herders from other regions trekking their animals to the market in Ulaanbaatar. This double load leads to overgrazing of summer and spring pasture and to heavy desertification.

Currently, 10 communities are involved in the research, three or four at each study site, with an average of 20 herding families in each community. The communities are organized along a number of dimensions: socially (as neighbourhoods), economically (groups of herders) and ecologically (herder groups in one ecosystem). In 2001 the project started working with about 200 herders from 90 households in three communities. Today about 1,000 herders are involved in co-management efforts at the three study sites. Most households have four or five members (50 per cent); 26 per cent have fewer members and 24 per cent have more.

Methods

Participatory rural appraisal and action methods were complemented by a survey. Methods included focus groups, field interviews, oral histories, seasonal diagramming and field observations. Group discussions and field interviews were used to collect information on women's participation in the co-management of pastures and natural resources. Based on the results, co-management contracts among the main stakeholders were redesigned to include women's ideas and opinions. The gender analysis identified roles in natural resource management and decision-making processes at micro, mezzo and macro levels. The macro-level study also analysed government policies.

Inter-community exchange of the experiences of women's groups was facilitated and networking of women's groups was enabled with the support of the database centres at the study sites. A total of 461 women and men from 200 herding families in nine communities took part in the survey as well as community leaders, local governors, sum-level co-management team members and researchers.

LEARNING FROM THE FIELD

Gender Roles in Natural Resource Management

Although both women and men play important, but different, roles in the management of natural resources in the country, women's contributions and participation in natural resource use, decision making and implementation have been undervalued. In many cases, in research and in policy making, women's knowledge and abilities are simply forgotten or neglected.

According to our survey, although women participate in animal husbandry, they are also occupied with many household tasks such as taking care of the family's food and clothing needs and ensuring the health of the children and other family members (Figure 7.2). This information corresponds with national data and the tradition of labour distribution in herding households.

Men usually do most of the work outside and away from the home, particularly selecting pastures, haymaking, herding animals, participating in meetings and business management. However, almost all of the men's work is seasonal. In contrast, women's work is continuous during the day and during the year. They usually do repetitive housework, particularly processing milk, taking care of children and housekeeping. In other words, the daily workload of women is higher than men, but almost all of this work is unpaid. Women's workload hinders their participation in community decision making and in meetings about natural resource management. From this we can deduce that by decreasing women's workload, it is possible to increase their participation in natural resource management.

Table 7.1 indicates that community members perceive that women play important roles in protecting natural resources, for example, by teaching their children about the environment and the traditional customs of appropriate use and protection of natural resources. The

Figure 7.2
The Participation of Men and Women in Farming and Household Work (n = 84)

Source: Odgerel (2002).

common perception is that men have a greater role in decision making, for example, by participating in community meetings and making agreements with community leaders on behalf of their households.

Mongolians have a long tradition of natural conservation. Women have great roles in keeping that tradition as they teach their children how to protect and soundly use nature. Also cleaning campsites, protecting rivers, and drinking and washing water areas are usually done by women. But the busy housework hinder women to participate in the participatory natural resource management. (Female member of a herder community)

Changes since Co-management

When co-management was first implemented, there was no common understanding of gender roles or equal participation by women and men in natural resource management. But this has now changed. Herders and other stakeholders have begun to recognize the importance of women's interests and their role in decisions about creating a sustainable system of co-management. At the same time, the knowledge of both women and men herders about the sound use and protection of resources and their skills and ability to do this have improved.

Since the introduction of co-management, herders have become more likely to cooperate in natural resource management. Their knowledge and motivation to protect and restore natural resources have improved. Especially women's roles and participation in natural resource management have increased in our sum's communities. Now women and men equally participate in the adoption of co-management agreements. Women's participation in the decision-making and implementation process have increased; for example, the women group of Lun sum's community initiated restoration of degraded winter and spring pastures through reseeding. (Male sum governor)

However, the division of labour between men and women has not changed, although women now participate more actively in community meetings and have begun to express their opinions more strongly.

Women's Groups

One of the project interventions has been the establishment or formalization of women's groups. These groups have increased women's opportunities to participate in decision making about natural resource management in their communities and are instrumental in identifying the best co-management practices and how obstacles to co-management can be overcome, building on local indigenous knowledge and practices.

Women's groups generally consist of all women members of the community. Their formation was facilitated by the project research team based on existing forms of collaboration between women. Each group has a leader, who is elected by the members at a community meeting. The groups meet once a month to plan activities, discuss problems and issues, and make decisions.

Some groups found it difficult to meet every month, especially those at the Deluin and Lun study sites, where some households are 50 to 100 km apart; these groups decided to meet once in two or three months instead.

Women have clear roles in natural resource management. By establishing the women's group, women joined, and are sharing opinions, making joint decisions, and helping each other. (Female secretary of a community)

Women's groups have organized the following activities: supporting women's income-generating activities (for example, handicrafts, felt-making, vegetable growing), learning from each other (teaching their skills to other members of the community, learning from other communities, organizing various training for women in sustainable livelihood options and natural resource management), exchanging of experiences between communities and between study sites (community products exhibition, study tours to other sites, stakeholders' meeting about updating the co-management agreements in Khotont sum), and participatory monitoring and evaluation of the community's co-management efforts.

After the project team, together with specialists, provided pasture management training at the study sites, the communities designed a pasture rotation plan to improve their management system (see Table 7.2). Women's groups in Tsagaannuur and Arjargalant communities designed pasture shifting plans in agreement with the whole herder group, and these have been very effective so far.

Women in our community made a pasture shifting plan. Women before never participated in pasture issues, but we saw that women's pasture plan was very clever. (42-year-old male community member)

As a result of the establishment of women's groups in all communities, they are more involved in community decision making; they

participate more in community meetings, freely express their ideas, and report about women's group activities to other members of the community.

Income Generation

The only source of herders' income is animal husbandry, which is under increasing stress as we described earlier. Creation of additional income-generating opportunities is very important as it can improve the herder households' livelihoods as well as contributing to solving the ecological problem of pasture degradation.

Location, proximity to market centres, infrastructure, and cultural and socioeconomic conditions at the study sites have a great impact on the implementation of co-management of natural resources. For example, in Deluin sum, culture, customs and close kinship relations became positive factors in implementing co-management. In Khotont sum herders' interest in finding alternative income sources is high because they have limited pasture area and small herds (herders also live close to each other) and the remoteness of a market centre requires cooperation. In Lun sum the households are more business oriented and interested in pursuing individual business interests because they are close to the market centre and have an established infrastructure.

The changing average income of herder households is illustrated in Table 7.3. In 2001, on average, 48.6 per cent of a herder's household income came from selling meat, 22.9 per cent from milk and dairy products, 15.2 per cent from wool and cashmere, 7.1 per cent from skins and hides, and the remaining 6.2 per cent from other sources such as pensions. Now herders are beginning to have new and additional sources of income, for example, from growing vegetables and making handicrafts. They have come to understand that it is not sustainable to have income only from animal husbandry. The series of recent severe winter (zhuds) that they had to face (2000, 2001, 2002), in which many herders lost their animals, have without doubt accelerated this realization. Comparing 2001 and 2003, herders now have new income sources including producing felt products (7.9 per cent of total income) and growing vegetables (4.1 per cent of the total income). These contributions may be increased during the coming years.

In herding households, women play the main role in generating additional income. The following interventions were facilitated by the project to assist in these endeavours.

Making Handicrafts with Animal Skins and Wool.

Community representatives attended a training course in felt-making in the city and received wool processing equipment through the project. Community women make clothes and other handicrafts with felt for their own use or to sell. As a result, the incomes of herding households have increased. Women have also begun to have their 'own' money, which allows them to establish their own fund to support women's participation in natural resource management. Women have shown a strong interest in selling agricultural and other products, and their work has begun to provide visible and direct monetary benefits. In other words, their previously unpaid work is paying off!

Growing Vegetables.

Communities at the three study sites are growing potatoes and other vegetables, which have become an alternative income source. These crops also help balance herders' diets. Vegetables are difficult to obtain in local markets, which partly explains why herders have taken to this experiment with such enthusiasm.

Small Funds to Support Women's Income-generating Activities.

This year the project has funded women's small-scale income-generating projects and particular attention was paid to the poorer households.

Herders who live in the Khangai mountain forest-steppe ecosystem used to collect natural plants such as berries and medicinal herbs for their household consumption only. Now they protect these resources from illegal users and also gather them for marketing.

I attended the felt-making training in Darkhan city. I learned to make good quality felt and felt handicrafts using the new equipment. I think that it is a very effective way to gain additional income. (Female herder)

This year the community fund started to provide small loans for women's activities like making felt products and handicrafts and others. Thanks to this activity, households' income increased and women established their own fund. (Women's group leader)

The research team is currently looking into other options, such as establishing a rotating fund to support women's activities, to facilitate the marketing of dairy products and handicrafts, and to organize additional income-generating activities.

Women's Participation in Co-management

Community-based natural resource management can take the form of combinations of community-based and government interventions. Co-management is a governance arrangement that lies between a state property and a communal property regime. For co-management to be equitable, fair and equal participation of women and men in all activities is required. In many cases in research and in policy making, however, women's knowledge and abilities are neglected.

To clarify women's ideas about co-management, we surveyed the 461 women members of 220 herding families in nine communities. According to this survey, women define the following as important goals of co-management:

• to cooperate and agree on common goals;

• to plan activities and work toward certain goals;

• to improve knowledge and management of natural resources;

• to improve the use of pastures and other natural resources;

• to improve herding management and the productivity of animals;

• to improve and diversify the livelihoods and income of the households;

• to learn about the laws, agreements and rules related to herders and pastures; and

• to support and increase women's participation in co-management activities.

The surveyed women also proposed a number of ideas (ranging from 16 at one site to 36 at another) on how to include women's ideas and perceptions in co-management agreements. Women of Karatau and Buzaukol communities in Deluin sum defined their priority goal as 'to support and increase women's participation in co-management activities'. This was followed by 'to increase community income by processing animal raw products and making felt or handicrafts', and 'to increase community additional income by various agricultural activities like growing vegetables'. Fourth and fifth priorities were 'to increase women's knowledge about natural resource management by exchanging experiences with other communities or increasing newspaper availability' and 'natural resource restoration activities like improving degraded pasture condition by reseeding, increasing pasture water supply, and tree transplanting from dense parts of forest'.

Women of Arjargalant community in the forest-steppe ecosystem gave priority to 'restoring pasture, transplanting trees' and to 'decreasing pasture load by increasing income from other sources like growing vegetables', followed by 'activities for strengthening co-management'. In contrast, women of the Ikhbulag community (in the same forest-steppe ecosystem), which was established a year later than Arjargalant, said that 'increasing household income by making handicrafts by processing animal raw products' was their number-one priority.

Including Women's Ideas and Interests in Co-management Agreements

Although until recently women had fewer rights and opportunities to participate in collective decision making about natural resource management or other community affairs, most of them support the idea of co-management of natural resources if it is connected to improving their livelihood. Our work tries to increase women's role in this management aspect.

Early on in our work, some co-management agreements were drawn up without the roles of women being recognized. Subsequently, we sought to change these agreements based on the ideas of women. Generally, women's ideas on revising co-management agreements fall into two categories: representing their interests and improving the agreements.

Women's Ideas for Representing Their Interests in Agreements

• 'The community leader should include the ideas of men and women members in the decision making and he should share and introduce his ideas before making decisions.'

• 'Involve women in decisions about natural resource management issues.'

• 'Support women's participation in additional income-generating activities such as making felt and handicrafts, processing dairy products and growing vegetables.'

Women's Ideas for Improving Co-management Agreements

• 'Co-management activities among community and non-community herders should be organized and initiated by the sum governor.'

• 'The bag governor should meet community people once every quarter and convey their opinions and priorities to higher levels of government and also link herders' needs with local government policy.'

• 'Community leaders should take care of poor community members and take measures to increase the community members' livelihoods in relation to the sound use of the natural resources, their protection and restoration.'

• 'Community members who excel in sustainable management practices should be rewarded.'

• 'Clarify what measures should be taken if community members fail in their responsibilities.'

• 'Community members should cooperate, exchange experiences about natural resource management, and participate actively in community activities and training.'

• 'Marketing of community products should be organized jointly with the assistance of the community accountant and sum and bag governors.'

As women in the pastoral agriculture of Mongolia have traditionally played key roles in housekeeping and household work, many suggestions related to these tasks were mentioned but not reported here. This was expressed as 'to support women's participation in additional income-generation activities like making felt and handicrafts, processing dairy products, growing vegetables, etc.' or 'to highlight women's role in educating children and teaching them about natural resource management'. The most important ideas that women put forward were 'provide women with more possibility to participate in the community decision making and tell their ideas at the community meetings' and 'women's groups should be established'.

The women's groups listed three main positive influences of the co-management agreements related to pasture issues: the agreements are a good way for local people to implement the sound use of pastures and natural resources; good pasture management will make animals stronger and healthier; and the agreements increased options for the community to restore degraded pasture and natural resources, and to create watering points in the unused pastures.

In terms of negative factors, they mentioned four. They observed that there are often disputes with new or non-community people living in the area. It is also difficult to exclude people from moving to the community from other areas because of the harsh winter conditions. They noted that it is not possible to implement seasonal pasture rotation due to the shortage of pasture area (mentioned by the communities in the Hangai mountain forest-steppe ecosystem). Finally, they said that it is difficult to involve all community members in pasture protection given that some live far from each other.

Women identified some negative aspects of their participation in community decision making. When there is a community meeting, it takes a considerable amount of time to contact people and ensure full participation as some people live far away. Some decisions are not fully agreed on nor well implemented, as some members do not participate in the meeting and have no information about the decisions. Women are not unanimous on all matters: some said that 'community members actively participate and as a result now the community is successful', while others said, 'because of the lack of the active participation of members some community actions are not going well'. A few also noted that 'conflicts between members badly affect the community activities and the membership'.

CONCLUSIONS, EMERGING ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

The most striking finding of our research to date is that stakeholders' understanding of the importance of gender equity in natural resource management has increased. At the same time, women's limited opportunities to participate in natural resource management and the domination of men's authority in decision making have been acknowledged. The main direct result of this study has been the revision and updating of grasslands co-management agreements between communities and local governors. These agreements now reflect community women's ideas and perceptions. They also recognize the need to fully involve women in future stakeholder meetings.

As a consequence of the establishment of the women's groups in the communities, women have more opportunities to cooperate, learn from each other, exchange experiences, and share knowledge and information. The establishment of women's groups has also facilitated gender equity in natural resource management and has created an environment to support women's participation in co-management of natural resources. It also encourages women's initiatives to protect natural resources according to traditionally inherited knowledge and customs.

Co-management agreements on pastures and natural resources are now being updated by including women's ideas and perceptions and promoting gender equity. As women have started to define their rights, roles and responsibilities in co-management agreements, they have become more actively and meaningfully involved in the community decision making.

Women's abilities in participatory monitoring and evaluation have improved as a result of the training provided by the project, and women's knowledge and abilities to generate additional income have improved as the result of the training and experience sharing.

Three important issues are emerging. Although significant progress has been made in women's involvement in the co-management of pasture and natural resources, men's authority still dominates. Hence, the assurance of gender equity in decision making remains a focal point. Second, although the traditional division of labour in pastoral agriculture has not changed much, since the transition to the market economy, women's agricultural labour burden has tended to increase. This hinders their full participation in co-management. Third, women's participation must be considered holistically and not only in terms of pasture management.

The main challenge is to continue awareness raising and transformative efforts. This includes continuing to support women's participation in co-management, further capacity building of women groups, and ongoing exchanges of experience between the communities and among the study sites.

There is no doubt that Mongolian women have significant roles to play in sustainable development.

REFERENCES

Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Program Initiative (1998). Gender: Readings and Resources for CBNRM Researchers, Volume 1. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre.

McAllister, K. and R. Vernooy (1999). Action and Reflection: A Guide for Monitoring and Evaluating Participatory Research. Working paper, International Development Research Centre, Ottawa.

Ministry for Nature and the Environment (MNE) (2002). Sustainable Management of Common Natural Resources in Mongolia: Phase 2. Research proposal, Government of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar.

Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour (2002). National Programme on Gender Equality. Ulaanbaatar: Government of Mongolia.

Odgerel, T. (2002). Report of the Survey on 'Labor distribution of Men and Women Herders in the 3 Study Sites'. Ulaanbaatar: MNE/Sustainable Management of Common Natural Resources in Mongolia Project.

Odgerel, T. (2003). Report of the Survey on 'Gender Roles in Natural Resource Management at Macro, Mezzo, Micro Levels.' Ulaanbaatar: MNE/Sustainable Management of Common Natural Resources in Mongolia Project.

Tserenbaljir, T. (2004). Report of the Survey on 'Community Herders' Income and Expenditures'. Ulaanbaatar: MNE/Sustainable Management of Common Natural Resources in Mongolia Project.

Ykhanbai, H., E. Bulgan, U. Beket, R. Vernooy and J. Graham (2004). Reversing Grassland Degradation and Improving Herders' Livelihoods in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia. Mountain Research and Development, 24(2): 96–100.

Ykhanbai, H. and the Sustainable Management of Common Natural Resources in Mongolia (SUMCNR) Project Team (2004). Sustainable Management of Common Natural Resources in Mongolia. Phase 2. Final report, Ministry for Nature and the Environment, Ulaanbaatar.