Restoration of 10,000 hectares of land damaged by mining

Mr.Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, President of Mongolia, during his time as Prime Minister, assigned the task of restoring 8,000 hectares of land that had been damaged by mining and left unclaimed for many years. He focused on the area of Narinii Am in Yeroo soum, Selenge province, and inspected the implementation of the tasks assigned at that time.

In 2020, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism conducted a national inventory and discovered that more than 30,000 hectares of land had been degraded, of which about 29,000 hectares were specifically damaged by mining. Among these, it was determined that restoring 8,000 hectares of land should be prioritized.

At that time, Prime Minister Khurelsukh.U actively fought against irresponsible mining practices, revoking 938 mineral exploration and exploitation licenses. He tasked the relevant sector ministries and employees with the responsibility to restore the damaged areas.

The government’s action plan for 2020-2024 included the goal of rehabilitating 8,000 hectares of land that had been damaged and abandoned for many years due to mining activities. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism issued a joint order titled “On Organizing Joint Measures,” which was approved by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Environment and Tourism, the Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry, and the Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs of Mongolia. This initiated the “Rehabilitation-2024” joint measure.

As part of this effort, technical restoration was conducted on a total of 9,773 hectares, while biological restoration was completed on 2,549 hectares from 2020 to 2023.

Prior to 2020, less than 1,000 hectares of land were restored nationwide each year. However, since 2020, this figure has increased significantly, with more than 2,000 hectares being restored annually.

 In specific years, the restoration figures were as follows: 912 hectares in 2018, 1,973 hectares in 2020, 2,123 hectares in 2021, 2,189 hectares in 2022, and 3,488 hectares in 2023.

From 2022 to 2023, technical rehabilitation was carried out on 1,230 hectares of land, and in 2024, 480 of 777 hectares were restored.

 Oyu Tolgoi LLC has joined the national “Ten Thousand Trees” movement, pledging to plant and grow 100 million trees. As part of this initiative, they rehabilitated 400 hectares of land in the Yalba Valley of Yeroo soum, Selenge province, and 215 hectares in Sharyn Gol soum, Darkhan-Uul province. Additionally, JINJII MINING LLC rehabilitated 800 hectares of land in Yeroo soum ,Selenge province last year.