Mongolia - Context and Land Governance

^{Ulaanbaatar - The Ger District. Photo by bobglennan. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0}

Mongolia is well known for its nomadic herders, and even today 25% of the population rely on animal husbandry directly⁴. In addition many urban Mongolians remain dependent on pastoralism for food security and as a source of revenue providing for other public services such as educational tuition fees, hospitals and housing. Mongolian pastoralism has endured through centuries of changing political control, including colonisation by Manchuria, and collectivisation under a socialist state⁵. A peaceful revolution took place in 1990, leading to a multi-party parliamentary system, and power rotating between the Democratic Party and the Mongolian People’s Party⁶. 

Mongolia has transitioned to a free market economy with a dependency on Western donors, reaching a low middle-income status. This was achieved largely due to the discovery of mineral resources in the Gobi Desert at the beginning of the 2000s, revealing some of the world’s largest deposits of copper, coal and uranium⁷. The resulting mining boom has put a squeeze upon access to land for herder communities and other farmers⁸. Income inequality is high, with poverty found both in rural areas and burgeoning urban sprawl⁹. Further challenges include limited infrastructure, rapid urbanisation, and a reputation for state corruption closely linked to mining¹⁰.

Land legislation and regulations

Following the collapse of socialist rule, Mongolia embarked on a revision of its legal system. The Constitution was revised in 1992, and through article 6(1) it allowed individuals to own private land for the first time in urban settlements¹¹. However, private ownership was prohibited on pastureland (article 6(3))¹². Pastoral land and other natural resources remain as state property or de facto common property.

In 1994, the parliament passed the first Land Law, which affirmed the right to own land as private property, and established land dispute resolution mechanisms¹³. This was revised in 2002, giving greater detail on the types of land rights, and further support with the new Civil Code, and laws on Allocation of Land to Mongolian Citizens for Ownership, and Land Privatisation¹⁴. A further 2008 amendment confirmed that every Mongolian citizen could own a piece of land for free and to use for residential purposes, no larger than 700m2 in the capital of Ulaanbaatar, up to 3,500m2 in Aimag (provincial) centres and up to 5,000 m2 in Soum (district) centres¹⁵.

Once the new laws were introduced, there was a scramble to acquire private ownership of land in favourable locations, particularly in Ulaanbaatar. There has been a lack of transparency in the system leading to a manipulation of allocation. By June 2014, only 13% of citizens had claimed ownership of a free parcel, and registration is known to be slow and cumbersome¹⁶. The number of laws (of which there are many others not specified here) and amendments has led to legal inconsistencies, confusion, and uncertainty¹⁷.

In 1994, the Law on Special Protected Areas was passed to preserve land areas with their flora and fauna¹⁸. This links to the Law on Forests (1995), which governs the classification, inventory and protection of forests¹⁹. The forest law also allows for its management by private entities, and leaseholds over resource use.

Land tenure classifications

Land legislation during Mongolia’s transition away from socialism has focused on three types of tenure, namely ownership, possession and use²⁰. In general, nearly all land belongs to the state, with under 5% made available for private ownership. Grants for land possession are allowed for a period of 15-60 years with an option to renew for a further 40 years. Land use permits are allocated for a maximum of five years with an option for a single extension. Special status is given to pastureland, recognised as ‘common tenure land’ and available for collective management²¹. The status acknowledges a legacy of herding through the co-management of land based around kinship systems²². The use of pasturelands as a common pool resource has survived multiple power structures in Mongolia, although conflict has emerged in the shift to a free market economy, particularly because of the growth of mining. As a result, some community-based development and participatory land management programmes have emerged, acknowledging customary systems by government and donors²³.

Land policy is developed under the Ministry for Construction and Urban Development, while the Agency for Land Administration and Management, Geodesy and Cartography (ALAMGaC) is responsible for land management and the implementation of legislation²⁴. It is this agency which is responsible for a centralised electronic national cadastre²⁵. However, land-based programmes have become reliant upon the financial support of international donors like the IMF. On the one hand this has placed Mongolia on a path of market reform, but on the other donors have expressed concerns for the development of tenure security²⁶.

Land use trends

Around 72% of Mongolia is pastureland, the world’s largest area of common grazing ground²⁷. Much of the land is arid and semi-arid, with mountain chains found in the north and western parts of the country²⁸. There is a small but important forest resource under state ownership, covering 9% of all land, which is classed as strictly protected, protected and utilisation forests²⁹. The vast majority of agriculture involves livestock rather than cropping, with millions of horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and camels³⁰. Nevertheless, Mongolia is shifting from a rural to an urban society. Out of a total population of just over 3 million people, there are around 1.8 million residents in Ulaanbaatar, with a major redistribution of the population since the 1990s³¹. Unfortunately, the city has not kept pace with this shift, suffering from outdated planning, a lack of infrastructural development, and sprawl³².

The landscape of Mongolia is a fragile one. The rise of mining has caused much erosion. Further, land for herders has reduced, and available grasslands are overstressed, leading to degradation and desertification³³. The shift away from collectivisation has not helped, leading to an influx of new herders and disruption to existing tenure regimes of land use³⁴. For example, herding has become more fixed around community settlements or administrative centres rather than following semi-nomadic methods of the past³⁵.

Over 30% of grassland biomass lost has taken place over the past 40 years³⁶. This is further compounded through landscape susceptibility to climate change, influencing desertification, water shortages and extreme winter conditions (dzuds)³⁷. In recent years, there have been major efforts to unify methods of rangeland health assessment and introduce resilience-based rangeland management. The long-term program ‘Green Gold and Animal Health’, under support from SDC (Swiss Development Cooperation) and relevance government ministries, has been instrumental in this effort, developing spatially-explicit management recommendations based on Ecological Site Descriptions (ESDs)³⁸. From data in 2016, 58% of monitoring sites were judged to carry some form of degradation.

A remarkable 21% of Mongolian land (32.9 million hectares) is now under national protected status, with a goal to reach 30%³⁹. Most recently the parliament approved 22 new areas covering 3.4 million ha in May 2019⁴⁰, and 10 areas covering 1.3 million ha in May 2020. Customary land use by nomadic herders is permitted in national parks (officially National Conservation Parks), except in special zoned areas. Grazing is also allowed in nature reserves and natural monuments, but not in Strictly Protected Areas⁴¹. A 2018 draft amendment to the Protected Area Law allows local community groups sustainable land use and conservation rights within protected areas, except for Strictly Protected Areas. As of April 2021, this provision is yet to be adopted.

There are also an increasing number of co-management strategies put in place⁴². Local Protected Areas (LPAs) are commonly managed jointly between local authorities and communities. Despite not being specified in current law, local communities help manage some small protected areas (such as in Kherlen Toonot National Park). The Protected Area Law permits NGO co-management rights, such as in Hustai Nuruu National Park where the NGO management strategy involves local nomadic herders.

^{Open coal pit at the UHG mine, photo by Bankwatch, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license}

Land investments and acquisitions

The Mongolian government in principle has the ability to appropriate private land and pay compensation. Yet in reality the state retains ownership of the vast majority of land in the country⁴³. State land can be leased by both domestic and foreign companies, although foreign ownership of land is not permitted in the country⁴⁴. Governed by the 2006 Mineral Law, the vast majority of leases involve mining, which contributed 90% to exports in 2015⁴⁵. Indeed, mining accounted for 71% of Foreign Direct Investment between 2012 and 2015. In 2020, there were 2,641 active licences to explore or mine 57 types of minerals in Mongolia⁴⁶. These licenses cover 6.25 million hectares or 4% of the total land area.

The rise of mining has led to pressures on land availability for herders, with many switching to waged work for this industry⁴⁷. Yet there are problems assessing any compensation in an area where no formal possession rights exist. A weak institutional capacity has done little to protect herders and other local actors in the face of the mining boom⁴⁸. The development of mining areas around the Gobi Desert has further created water shortages for other users of the arid landscape. There is a concentration of licenced areas congregating around the capital of Ulaanbaatar, influencing urban development⁴⁹. In urban areas, particularly Ulaanbaatar, much land has been acquired by oligarchs, acquiring plots larger than the legal maximum allocation of 700m2⁵⁰. Indeed, land administration and mining are known as two of the most corrupt sectors in the country⁵¹.

Women’s land rights

Statutory law in Mongolia theoretically supports gender equality over inheritance, land use, and ownership of livestock and other property⁵². The 1992 Constitution guarantees equal rights for men and women. However, there is a lack of clarity around land in cases of divorce and inheritance, with no mention of gender in the 2002 Land Law, and land customarily passing down the male inheritance line. In 2000, the Mongolian Women’s Fund (MONES) was set up to support women in civil society and promote the advancement of women’s human rights. The National Committee on Gender Equality (NCGE) was established in 2005, followed by the Law on Promotion of Gender Equality in 2009. Nevertheless, a 2008 report through the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) criticised the gender initiatives as lacking power and visibility to have a significant impact⁵³. This is despite CEDAW itself being ratified in 1981 during the socialist regime.

Instead, questions must be asked about the process of promoting gender equality in Mongolia. Even if the legal framework is gender neutral, it has been implemented in favour of men⁵⁴. For example, although joint titling is required by law for land privatisation, in reality titles are frequently placed in the name of the male household head (46% of rural properties⁵⁵) . This is not helped by official forms only carrying space for one name⁵⁶. There is also an issue with declining rates of registered marriage, so that women have little to no rights on the land they share.

Gender issues are very complex in Mongolia. The education (secondary and tertiary) of girls and women is higher than that of boys and men, and in recent years many young males herders find themselves struggling in the countryside⁵⁷. Yet domestic violence remains a serious issue, participation in the labour market for women is low, the poverty level is high, and there is a high rate of divorce in general⁵⁸. 92% of 357 formal herder groups are led by men. However, for groups involved in nature conservation, there is a higher likelihood of female group leaders. After 23% of parliamentary seats were held by women at the end of the socialist period (1990), this figure has dropped in recent elections (4.2% in 2008, 14.5% in 2012, and 17.1% in 2016)⁵⁹. In 2016, the quota for women in political parties decreased from 30% to 20%⁶⁰.

Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Tenure (VGGT)

In the rise of a free market economy and rapid urbanisation, FAO has made a concerted effort to create a multi-stakeholder platform to counter insecure land tenure, persistent poverty, and emerging inequality through implementation of the VGGT. The guidelines have already been translated into Mongolian and a special guide Improving governance of pastoral lands places much focus on the country⁶¹.

Regular National Workshops have been held since 2014 involving amongst others, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry (MOFALI), People Centred Conservation Mongolia (PCC), and since 2019 the International Land Coalition (ILC). There has been a particular focus on secure tenure in pasturelands.

In 2015, FAO conducted it’s pilot blended learning programme on Governing Land for Women and Men for national stakeholders in Mongolia, facilitated by PCC, and in 2016, a training of trainers (ToT) took place, to help disseminate information and raise awareness on the tenure security of herder groups⁶². In May 2019, a milestone meeting at parliament house, involving over 850 participants, also addressed an acute concern with the degradation of pastureland, and its potential impact upon 200,000 herder families (70% of the rural population)⁶³.

^{Two Herders, Yellow Boots, Red Hat, Mongolia, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license}

Timeline - milestones in land governance

1990 – Fall of Socialist State
The fall of communism led to a multi-party parliamentary system, with power rotating between the Democratic Party and the Mongolian People’s Party

1992 – Revision of the Constitution
In this revision, private ownership of land was permitted for the first time

1994 – Promulgation of first Land Law
Affirmation of the right to own land as private property, and establishment of land dispute resolution mechanisms

1995 – Promulgation of Forest Law
Governs the classification, inventory and protection of forests, allowing for its management by private entities, and leaseholds over resource use.

Early 2000s – Discovery of mineral deposits in the Gobi Desert
With some of the world’s largest deposits, the resulting mining boom has squeezed land access for herder communities and other farmers

2008 – Land Law amendment that all Mongolian citizens have right to a free piece of land
The parcel can be no larger than 700m2 in the capital of Ulaanbaatar, up to 3500m2 in Aimag (provincial) centres and up to 5000 m2 in Soum (district) centres , and can be used for residential purposes

2018 – Nearly 60% of the population residing in the capital of Ulaanbaatar
1.8 million people live in the capital out of a total population of just over 3 million

2020 - 21% of land is now under national protected status
This represents 32.9 million hectares, including community conservation areas, with a goal to reach 30%

Where to go next?

The author’s suggestion for further reading

For a more detailed and recent English-language overview of the various laws and policies governing land, we recommend looking at the WOLTS research report Gender, Land and Mining in Mongolia from 2018⁶⁴. This report takes a gender perspective on land issues, and then places a focus on the impact of the mining rush in Mongolia through two case studies. For those wishing to look more closely at mining deals, the Mongolian Computerized Mining Cadastre System (CMCS) offers up to date information on licences. This is found at https://cmcs.mram.gov.mn/cmcs.  

There are numerous studies looking at the tenure and property rights of herding communities. We recommend the work of Maria Fernández-Giménez, who conducted important fieldwork during the critical transition from a socialist state to free market economy in the 1990s to early 2000s. For example, her 2006 paper Land use and land tenure in Mongolia: a brief history and current issues hones in on herder rights through a wider consideration of land governance at that time⁶⁵. The FAO guide Improving governance of pastoral lands contains many references to Mongolia and is also an important touching stone⁶⁶.

Finally, concerning conservation issues, the World Wide Fund for Nature carries frequent stories on Mongolia. They have a strategic plan for 2017-21, containing useful background information on the country⁶⁷.