"Mongolian herders fear a new coal highway to China" 7 November 2024

Nearly 85% of Mongolia’s exports go to its China... More than half of it is coal. In Ömnögovi, a new border checkpoint and a road are being built to connect China to existing and proposed coal mines dotted across this southern Mongolian province...

The Tsagaan Del Uul-Ölzii checkpoint was completed on the Chinese side in 2021... The checkpoint is close to the Small Gobi Strictly Protected Area, an ecologically important site home to wildlife such as the ibex, argali and long-eared jerboa...

While the boom in coal exports may be leading to more economic activity in Ömnögovi, where many of the mines are concentrated, its flipside has been environmental damage. Mining uses significant amounts of groundwater, depleting scarce resources that herders, livestock and wild animals rely upon for survival.

The transportation of mined materials including coal to the Chinese border has also caused problems for herders, as trucks travel on unpaved roads, killing livestock and churning up dust, with implications for human and animal health...

Since 2018, local herders have been protesting the construction of the road and checkpoint...Herders in Khurmen and neighbouring Nomgon soum began to express their opposition to the checkpoint and road in local meetings. They claim the consultation process was not correctly followed, and their formal opposition to the project was not properly communicated to higher levels of government...

In 2022, Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrain met with herders in the provincial capital, Dalanzadgad. In response to their requests, he announced the project would be suspended.

Construction was halted until May 2024, when the border crossing was temporarily opened to allow construction materials to be brought in from China. During our research trip in August and September 2024, herders told us they fear this new infrastructure and the accompanying proliferation of coal mining sites will irreparably damage this unspoilt part of the Gobi. They say it could kill their livestock and ultimately bring about the end of their pastoral way of life...