APPROACH

With support primarily from the Netherlands-Mongolian (NEMO) Trust Fund for Environmental Reform and the World Bank’s Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) trust fund, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) had been providing technical assistance focused on detecting and taking actions against illegal wildlife trade in Mongolia. The objective of subsequent technical assistance funded by the FLEG Trust Fund (later part of PROFOR) was to assess the gaps in current laws and regulations which hinder or prevent effective wildlife trade law enforcement, and strengthen local capacity to protect species such as the grey wolf, red fox, marmot, brown bear and Eurasian badger.

RESULTS

The project produced a number of results including: 

--Reorganization of the Multi-Agency wildlife trade crime unit which conducts joint inspections in Ulaanbaatar markets on wildlife trade and its parts and products.
--Increased public awareness of the risks of illegal wildlife trading. A ‘Special Call’ placed in 6 national newspapers as well as additional TV coverage and debate resonated with the public.
--Increased media awareness. Recommendations to the media concerning advertisements of wildlife parts and products were followed by a large decline in wildlife advertising in Zar Medee and Shuurhai Zar newspapers. 
--Facilitated amendments to the Hunting Law.
--Developed extensive Guidelines for Wildlife Law Enforcement.