Media Immediacy - Mongolia

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Mongolia

Mongolia Today www.mongoliatoday.com/
The editors write: "If you are curious about Mongolia, we can help you. We are two Mongolian journalists dedicated to the preservation of the centuries old unique culture of Mongol nomads. A decade ago our magazine, Mongolia was closed due to drastic political changes, but the arrival of Internet gave us a chance to revive the publication, this time online." Issue number 4 features stories about, of all things, horses, fermented mares milk, understanding Mongolians, horseback sex, the medieval postal system in Mongolia and alcoholism under the communists:

"Under the faltering socialist economy short of goods and services, the new rulers found a way to collect back wages given to workers. In 1959 the first distillery producing vodka was built, and a heavy public relation campaign praising "modest consumption" of alcohol launched. Mongolian Youth League members traveled for months all across the country, promoting the benefits of drinking alcohol. Well, the task was fulfilled and the state coffers again swelled along with the climbing number of drinking people. Mongols do drink, and unfortunately it turns into a national trait. Scientific research showed that Mongols lack a blood ferment that disintegrates alcohol, and for this reason, Mongols get drunk easily losing any control."

Eastern Steppe Biodiversity Project
http://www.un-mongolian.mn/projects/esbp
This Project is working in Biodiversity conservation and creating sustainable livelihood options in the grasslands of Eastern Mongolia. Their vision is "for the whole of the Eastern Steppes being managed for economic development without depleting natural resources or adversely affecting ecological processes. It forsees herds of Mongolian gazelle roaming, with their survival safeguarded by a well enforced system of protected areas and legislation, by economic incentives for sustainable harvests or tourism opportunities, by effective land-use planning to reconcile the needs of economic development and infrastructure with the needs of the gazelles to follow their migration routes." It considers the "participation of herders, and other local citizens and government officials, as the key to the successful management of the grasslands."

The biodiversity of the Eastern Steppes is threatened already by overgrazing, by over exploitation of animal and plant populations, by pollution and soil erosion and the loss of land to oil and mining development. The Eastern Steppes are also seen as one of the next frontiers for industrial and agricultural development in Mongolia. Activities forseen and already occuring include surface stripped uranium mining, oil exploration and extraction, transnational gas pipelines and iron ore mining accompanied by infrastructure development, including a new railway and support for thousands of employees.

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