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BID ANNOUNCEMENT FOR FOR CONDUCTING STUDIES ON RANGELAND CONDITIONS AND HAY COLLECTION AREAS IN THE OBNP INTERNAL ZONES
This work shall be conducted in collaboration with relevant stakeholders including OBNP rangers, specialists, soum land officers, and members of community-based conservation groups and herders. The results of this study will be used to plan and set up restoration and rehabilitation schemes for degraded rangelands, while also supporting collaborative efforts to improve rangeland management and integrating into local and regional development plans.
Introduction: The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and WWF-Mongolia are jointly implementing the "Land of the Blue Sky – Onon-Balj National Park" project in Onon-Balj National Park (OBNP) and its buffer zone. This project, funded by the Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF) is committed to the sustainable conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems in this nationally significant landscape. The project supports conservation initiatives and actions led by local communities and herders, while also enhancing their livelihoods and improving their capacity for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
In Mongolia, over the past 30 years, livestock numbers have increased 2-3 times, exceeding the rangeland carrying capacity of common grazing lands and leading to overgrazing. The soums where the LLF program is being implemented face similar challenges. Overgrazing damages rangelands, forests, and riparian habitats by reducing productivity and increasing pressure on wildlife habitats through food and habitat competition. This situation disrupts herders' traditional methods of managing common lands, protecting nature and wildlife, and leads to increased conflicts and competition for rangeland resources.
The degradation of permafrost and peatlands can also be linked to overgrazing-induced rangeland degradation, which further exacerbates climate change. The frequency and intensity of extreme climate events, such as dzud and drought, are increasing because of climate change. Herders and local communities in the LLF project area prepare hay each fall as a mitigation measure for dzud induced fodder shortages. However, there is concern about overharvesting hay due to a lack of coordination and competition for hay-collecting areas. Furthermore, the increasing commercial demand for hay from the beef industry is contributing to overharvesting, which could result in irreversible land degradation.
The project aims to assess the health and integrity of Rangeland and hay-making areas in the OBNP internal zones include limited, tourism and restricted use zones. This work shall be conducted in collaboration with relevant stakeholders including OBNP rangers, specialists, soum land officers, and members of community-based conservation groups and herders. The results of this study will be used to plan and set up restoration and rehabilitation schemes for degraded rangelands, while also supporting collaborative efforts to improve rangeland management and integrating into local and regional development plans.
Objective: To assess the health of rangeland and hay-making areas in the OBNP internal zones and to promote the use of scientific baseline data and long-term monitoring results in local policy development and rangeland management strategies.
Timeline: May 12 - December 15, 2025
Scope: This work will consist of five steps as outlined below:
Review the scope, methods and practical implications of current ongoing rangeland monitoring activities implemented by different organizations including government, non-government and other international organizations.
Identify possibilities to collaborate/integrate these ongoing monitoring activities with/in this LLF project monitoring
Develop rangeland monitoring design (number and density of plots in different ecosystems with different grazing intensity, soil, vegetation variables etc.) for the LLF project
Conduct field measurement to identify current health of the rangeland and hay land areas within the OBNP internal zones and for determining baselines for future monitoring.
Create land use (including rangeland seasonal use and hay making areas) and rangeland health status map for the project area
Assess impacts of commercial and non-commercial hay making areas compare the health of these lands and recommend for the sustainable management implication.
Organize discussion meetings with representatives from relevant stakeholders, including government officials, community organizations, OBNP team and herders, to present and agree on the monitoring results and initiate a plan for the restoration of rangelands and hay-making areas, along with the associated management implications.
Expected results
A rangeland health monitoring design and field study protocols for LLF project covering areas of OBNP limited, tourism and restricted use zones
Reports on the rangeland health status and hay-making areas in the OBNP zones, along with recommendations for their adaptive management
The maps illustrate the current use of Rangeland and haymaking areas, land cover, and Rangeland health status, serving as a reference for future land management planning and decision-making.
Qualifications of the applicants:
Experience in assessing and synthesizing different rangeland and other relevant studies
Experience in designing and conducting field studies in different Rangeland ecosystems (forest steppe, steppe and meadow and riparian)
Proficiency in processing and analyzing data.
Having a professional team consisting of ecologists, botanists, and natural resource management specialists.
The experts in the team should have a master’s degree or higher in Rangeland ecosystem science, natural resource management or a related field and should have at least 5 years of work experience in relevant fields
The team leader should have 10 years of professional experience.
Having required field monitoring tools, equipment, maps, software necessary to perform study
Ability to conduct discussion sessions and organize meetings with relevant stakeholders.
Good written and spoken English
The following documents are requested:
Letter of Interest
A copy of the state registration certificate of the organization (if the work was performed by a professional team, attach a list of the works performed together) and list of similar work performed in the last 5 years
Organization/team member’s CV of project team members and contact details (email and telephone number)
Proposed research work plan with stages and associated timeframe
Proposed price quotation on consultation service only.
Applications should be submitted as a single PDF file by e-mail to info@wwf.mn and indicating “Application for LLF project Rangeland/Hay land health assessment”. The deadline for application is 5th of May 2025 at 17:00PM. For additional information, please refer to info@wwf.mn.
NOTE: Incomplete applications will not be considered.
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