Over the past two decades in Mongolia, over 1500 lakes, rivers, and streams have disappeared according to an unconfirmed study.

However some rivers and streams are recovering because of plentiful rain in the past two years, but some rivers are still in bad shape. Everyday lakes and rivers run dry from pollutants and human related activities. One of them is Ider River, which runs through Zavkhan aimag and begins in the Altai Mountains and Otgontenger Mountain.

The 452 km long Ider River that runs through 24.555 square km of territory is running dry rapidly in the past years. Environment protection officers in Zavkhan aimag are working on a project to adopt beavers into the Ider River to save its ecosystem. When a few families of beavers settle down along one river, the changes in water level are smaller and the watercourse becomes more natural. The results of such changes are very important for the river ecosystem and the environments that surround it.

Last month, a survey about the possibility of adopting beavers into the river was conducted by “Amitan asralt” LLC.  The local residents also appraised the campaign. Previously beavers were introduced successfully in Tes River. As a result the flow of the river and the number of the beaver increased.

The population of beavers is not increasing much. The beavers need plenty of natural resources in order to breed and they therefore care for that environment and improve the ecosystem of the area. The environment protection officers in Zavkhan aimag plan to adopt a family of beaver with a young beaver.