Eternal Mongolia Launched: The Government of Mongolia, The Nature Conservancy, and Local Partners Secure Pathway to Achieve Nation’s Climate and Biodiversity Goals
April 21, 2024 – Today, the Government of Mongolia, local herding communities, The Nature Conservancy, and several others launched ‘Eternal Mongolia’ – a bold sustainable finance initiative that invests in lasting conservation and community economic development. Working in partnership, the initiative commits all the funding and policy commitments needed for Mongolia to achieve its 30×30 conservation ambitions while providing a secure environmental and economic future for the nation’s communities.
Eternal Mongolia will:
🌱 Support locally driven proposals to safeguard 14.4 million hectares of grasslands, forests, deserts, wetlands, and rivers
🏔 Strengthen the management effectiveness of 47 million hectares of Mongolia’s network of protected areas
🌏 Extend sustainable and climate-resilient community-managed practices to 34 million hectares outside protected areas
🇲🇳 Deliver $198 million of new investment in conservation and community economic development over 15 years, in and around protected areas.
Eternal Mongolia PFP signing ceremony
Eternal Mongolia is built on local leadership and is part of the Enduring Earth initiative, working with over 100 local partners to conserve 350 million hectares of lands and waters by 2025. The project also marks a significant step in advancing Mongolia’s commitment to achieving the 30×30 global target and securing sustainable financing crucial for realizing the The Biodiversity Plan.
“A shortage of sustainable funding opportunities was a limitation for Mongolia to achieve its conservation goals. Therefore, Eternal Mongolia, a sustainable finance program, within the framework of the Enduring Earth conservation initiative, is commencing in Mongolia with an internationally proven solution to fill this financial gap,” said Mr. Boldoo Magvan, Board Chair of the Mongolian Nature Legacy Foundation.
“The success of Eternal Mongolia is not solely about protecting Mongolia’s landscapes but doing so in a way that honors and values generations of traditional knowledge while building sustainable livelihoods and futures,” said Munkhbat Tserendorj, Executive Director for Homyn Talyn Takhi NGO.
The Eternal Mongolia PFP will create financial sustainability, support ambitious conservation goals and demonstrate Mongolia’s global leadership in conservation and sustainable finance
“Mongolia, as a world leader in conservation, recognizes that they need to make bold investments for nature. We are tremendously inspired and honored to be working side by side to help protect their grasslands, one of the world’s largest remaining intact ecosystems, via this innovative Project Finance for Permanence mechanism.” said Jennifer Morris, CEO of The Nature Conservancy and Board Chair of Enduring Earth.
The PFP approach is a proven model that has already protected over 100 million hectares of lands and waters around the world. Eternal Mongolia is TNC’s third PFP and first as part of Enduring Earth.
Dr. Tungalag Ulambayar, a community-based conservation partner of Eternal Mongolia and Country Director of Mongolia representative office, the Zoological Society of London, emphasized, “As a social scientist and conservation practitioner, I strongly support the Eternal Mongolia project’s dedication to community-based natural resource management in Mongolia. This approach enables herder communities to sustainably manage local ecosystems while upholding their traditional rights to natural resources in their nutag or home areas.”
Mongolia established itself as a world conservation leader 30 years ago by committing to a vision revolutionary for its time: to protect 30% of its lands—a goal now shared around the world. Eternal Mongolia unlocks all the funding and policy commitments needed for Mongolia to ensure its 30% conservation target will be met by 2030 while providing a secure and economic future for Mongolians.
Eternal Mongolia will dramatically expand conservation of one of the world’s most intact and connected temperate grasslands, sweeping sand dunes, rugged mountains, pristine lakes and over 13,000 kilometres of winding rivers that support rare wildlife and feed much of central and northern Asia.
Learn more about Eternal Mongolia and the work that built on two decades of conservation success