Building eco villages using a self-reliance model / Sustainable land management

Many Mongolian pastoralists’ are losing their livelihoods to desertification, turning them into eco-refugees. From 2007 - 2017, GAN trained 40 eco-refugees in agroforestry to earn an income from cash crops while also combating desertification (via afforestation). Eco-tours to the site were also held for fundraising and climate change-awareness with a total of 1,100 visitors. This project was underpinned by a self-reliance model, which progressively gives greater control to participants. By 2017, participants planted 137,509 trees to help their community of 1,500 people and took control of the project by planning to form their own cooperative.