Netherlands-Mongolia Trust Fund for Environmental Reform (NEMO)

Overview

The Netherlands-Mongolia Trust Fund for Environmental Reform (NEMO 1) was established in April 2005 with the objective of strengthening and advancing the environment and natural resources agenda in Mongolia. The initial grant of US$6 million from the Netherlands Government was allocated among three categories: (i) World Bank-executed technical assistance; (ii) Government of Mongolia-executed support for ongoing World Bank projects; and (iii) Government-executed preparation of new World Bank-financed projects.

Building on the successful results and lessons learned during the implementation of NEMO 1, a second 4-year phase (NEMO 2) was initiated in 2007 with a total endowment of $ 5 million. The Government of Mongolia (Ministry of Nature, Environment & Tourism), the Netherlands (Royal Netherlands Embassy in Beijing and Ministry of Development Cooperation), and the World Bank agreed that activities under NEMO 2 (2007-2010) would focus on :(i) Natural Resources Management; (ii) Pollution Management; and (iii) Environmental Governance.

Video: Mongolia - Which way forward?

NEMO 2 

The overall expected outcome of NEMO 2 is the strengthening of environmental governance and advancing the environment and natural resources agenda in Mongolia. Proposed key performance indicators are:

At least three searchable, web-accessible databases relating to environment and natural resources management, in Mongolian and English, established by the end of NEMO 2;
An increase over the four years in the coverage of NEMO-related stories in national and local media;
An active small grants program providing the means and the supervision for national and local-level environmental activities for at least 10 central, aimag and soum-level groups in each year of NEMO 2; and
Government environmental priorities based in part on NEMO outputs and processes as judged in the annual tripartite reviews.

Planned activities for Year 4 (2011):

Strengthen the capacity of the newly-established soum and inter-soums forestry brigades;
Provide support for (a) international consultants for air quality program development; ii) stove-fuel emissions testing laboratory research (co-financed by ADB); iii) establishing a stove producers' assistance center (with potential GTZ co-financing);
Continuation of the Small Grants Program under NEMO1 and NEMO2;
Organize trainings and activities to advocate for the value of water to the public;
Expand the Red Listing of species by including selected plants;
Follow up on BBOP Initiative in Gobi;
Sustainable Eco-tourism activity;
Revise standards on water consumption by different users (domestic, industries, livestock etc);
Options paper on fencing linear infrastructure;
Isotope Analyses for Origin and Recharge in Southern Gobi Region;
Monitoring Mongolian Biodiversity: Wildlife Picture Index (3rd of 3 years);
Establishing the role of the private sector in financing environmental expenditures;
Amendment, formulation, assessment and advocacy for environmental laws and standards emerging from the EMP;
Strengthening the performance of aimag level environmental departments.

NEMO 2 activities during Year 3 (2010):

Translation of the novel Wolf Totem into Mongolian. The novel depicts the values and benefits of the traditional herder lifestyle and grassland management, typically in Mongolia;
Continuing implementation of the recommendations of Silent Steppe report by supporting forest ungulates and marmots surveys; and
Expansion of the biodiversity monitoring through camera traps in time and geographical space; 

Development of options for Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) regarding the Upper Tuul ecosystem; and

Assisting on the formulation of a new law on the protection of genetic resources, their sustainable use and equitable benefits sharing.

NEMO 2 activities during Year 2 (2009):

Establishing an integrated nationwide inventory and database of the damaged and restored mining lands, and the development of the methodology of restoration of damaged lands;
Survey of threatened Saker Falcons and Houbara Bustards in the Galba Gobi ‘Important Bird Area’;
Development and approval of two new environmental standards and of a new policy document on environmental standards up to 2021;
Support to the national training for environmental inspectors in an effort to increase capacity of Mongolia’s Ministry of Nature, Environment, and Tourism staffs; and
Baseline study of air pollution monitoring and health impact in Ulaanbaatar.

NEMO 2 activities during Year 1 (2008):

Strengthen the involvement of Buddhist communities in environmental management through the production of education and awareness materials, the maintenance of the 'eco-ger' at Gandan monastery, and the contribution towards environmental management of the sacred landscape;
Conduct a regional environmental assessment for the Gobi Region;
Establish country-wide water quality monitoring protocols;
Undertake a review of Mongolia’s environmental expenditures and revenue management;
Continue funding grants through the small grants program established under NEMO I to improve environment and natural resources management; and
Valuation studies for the environmental services for the Upper Tuul watershed.

NEMO I

NEMO I closed on September 30, 2006. It marked a major scaling up in the scope and type of both the Bank’s and Netherlands’ programs, and an attempt to move from a project-based approach to a programmatic one, with a stronger focus on environment and natural resources management sustainability in the context of poverty reduction and economic development. Almost all parts of the environmental agenda, almost all environmental agencies and NGOs, and almost all parts of the country have been touched by NEMO. Its elements related to existing activities and many have reinforced others. It has:

Established sound baselines of knowledge for environmental natural resource

management that can be used as benchmarks for measuring progress (or regress);
Raised the visibility of environmental affairs, particularly at the national level thanks to the large coverage of the program;
Broadened the pool of environmental practitioners accessing resources to fund small and medium-size activities at the local level with the participation of local communities; and
Helped MNE to start prioritize responses among the many environment and NRM problems that the country faces, with particular attention to how their responses can be supported by the government's development policies, and specific donors' program.

For more comprehensive account on the results, please see the NEMO Results 2005-2006.

Focus Areas

The NEMO-funded work has focused on the following thematic areas:
Natural Resource Management and Biodiversity Conservation
Urban Environment and Pollution Management
Strengthening Governance, Capacity and Partnerships for Environmental Management

Publications

To view the publications funded by NEMO, please click here.

Related Documents

To view presentations and other documents related to NEMO, please click here.

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