Communicating Knowledge for Sustainable Rangeland Management under Climate Change – Improving Analytic and Reporting Skills

Grazing is a traditional land use in Mongolia. The design of effective management plans requires an understanding of how changes in grazing pressure affect land conditions in combination with ongoing climate change. Mongolia has an unparalleled monitoring programme on rangeland health. A wealth of data is collected every year in a systematic way, at many sites throughout this vast country. The high-quality data collected provides opportunities to address the effects of grazing and climate change, so that this knowledge can be translated into effective policy making for sustainable rangeland use. However, to make informed management decisions it is critical to understand the limitations of the available data, the potential confounding factors and the possibilities for analyses. Enhancing analytic and reporting skills will thus enable an efficient use of the data already available and allow the design of studies to address specific questions. 

The short course “Communicating Knowledge for Sustainable Rangeland Management under Climate Change – Improving Analytic and Reporting Skills” addressed these issues. The aim of the course was to increase the ability of the participants to:
1) distinguish between the effect of grazing and climate change on ecosystems, and enhance their skills for designing research and monitoring projects that increase knowledge of ecosystems, and
2) recognize good quality data and information, and use them to inform policy makers concerning sustainable management of ecosystems under ongoing climate change. 

The course started with two days of interactive lectures, followed by a field trip where participants explored grazing and climate change impacts at two steppe sites, a pine forest and a riparian area. During the field visit, participants reflected on the concepts and topics covered during the lectures. In the latter part of the course the focus was on the basic project framework, where the rangeland health monitoring system in Mongolia was used as a case study to explain the different elements of the framework. In this part of the course the participants were assigned to working groups, where they explored the different components of the basic project framework. 

The course was held in Mongolia from 29 June to 5 July 2018. The seven-day course was jointly developed by professionals from UNU-LRT and three of its partner institutions in Mongolia:

• Mongolian University of Life Sciences (MULS): Dr Khishigjargal Mookhor, Dr Baigal-Amar Tuulaikhuu
• National Federation of Pasture User Groups of Herders (NFPUG): Dr Bulgamaa Densambuu
• Information and Research Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment (IRIMHE): Dr Bat-Oyun Tserenpurev

Additionally, the on-site course team included Dr Burenjargal Otgonsuren, Dr Delgerjargal Dugarjav and Dr Undrakh Od Baatar from MULS who served as working group leaders, and four former fellows, Sumjidmaa Sainnemekh and Budbaatar Ulambayar who served as field instructors, and Altantsetseg Balt and Badam Ariya who assisted with the execution of the course.