Mongolia, the land of Genghis Khan
and nomadic herders, is in the midst of a remarkable transition. Rich in coal,
gold and copper, this country of fewer than 3 million people in Central Asia is
riding a mineral boom that is expected to more than double its GDP within a
decade. The rapid changes simultaneously excite and unnerve many Mongolians,
who hope mining can help pull many out of poverty, but worry it will ravage the
environment and further erode the nation”s distinctive, nomadic identity.

Last of four parts

Mongolia is a country of tremendous
contrasts. Consider this: Two out of every five Mongolians make their living
herding goats, sheep and camels.

But last year — according to World
Bank estimates — Mongolia”s economy grew faster than any other on the planet,
driven by a mining boom.

The Central Asian nation seems to be
racing from a nomadic culture to an industrial one practically overnight. To
appreciate how this transition — and its inevitable tensions — play out in the
lives of ordinary Mongolians, spend a few hours with Bat-Erdene Badam and his
family.

Bat-Erdene Badam”s family raises
sheep, goats and camels in the South Gobi region of Mongolia. But his three
children have no interest in continuing the family business.

Bat-Erdene, 47, is a lifelong herder
who lives in a ger, or a yurt, in the middle of the Gobi. He spends each
spring combing cashmere from his goats. On a recent day, a goat lies stretched
out on its side in a ger, its horns tethered to the ground. A fellow
herder rakes off tufts of white cashmere with what looks like a gardening tool
as the goat yelps in fear.

Bat-Erdene sells the cashmere for
about $20 a pound. Combings from his 300 goats should bring in more than $6,000
this year.

That”s decent money in the middle of
the Gobi, a mix of moonscape, mountain and increasingly arid grassland in
southern Mongolia. But Bat-Erdene”s three children have no interest in the
family business.

“Young people stopped herding
animals,” says Bat-Erdene, leaning against the wooden gate of a corral
filled with goats. “There are lots of employment opportunities for them in
the mining business. Therefore, I could probably say that the generation of
herders is ending with me.”

A Mix Of Old And Modern

Bat-Erdene heats his felt tent with
an iron stove. Rugs cover the dirt floor, and the walls of his corral are
constructed of bricks made from goat and sheep droppings.

But he also rides a motorcycle, uses
a cell phone and watches limited satellite TV on a small black-and-white set
powered by solar panels.

On a recent day, the romantic comedy
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days plays silently in the background.

Bat-Erdene lives with his wife and a
high-school-age son. Their daughter attends college in Mongolia”s capital, Ulan
Bator, about 300 miles away, and their other son, Uuganbaatar, drives a dump
truck at a coal mine.

“Two or three years ago, my
elder son used to help us out,” says Bat-Erdene, who wears a gray cap and
a brown sweater that zips up the front. “Now, he”s really tired of being a
herder, because we depend too much on the weather and climatic
conditions.”

Rising temperatures are drying out
Mongolia”s grasslands, while severe weather is taking a toll as well. In recent
years, heavy snow and drought killed more than 400 head of the family”s
livestock, more than half of their herd at the time. Bat-Erdene says for a new
generation, herding seems too unstable.

“When someone has a regular
job, it doesn”t matter if there”s severe weather or not,” he says.
“He can do his work, no matter what.”

A Blessing And Curse

Bat-Erdene”s son Uuganbaatar began
working at the coal mine about a year ago. He”s 22 and, like many young
Mongolians, painfully shy.

In an interview outside the gates of
the mine, he studies a water bottle he”s holding and kicks the ground with his
black Air Jordans. The mine is completely isolated in the desert, but
Uuganbaatar says he has more friends there and there”s more to do.

“I watch TV,” he says.
“There”s a recreation room with ping-pong and pool and there”s a computer
room.”

A baby Bactrian camel is tied up at
the edge of Bat-Erdene”s small farmstead. Bactrian camels, like all Mongolian
mammals, have thick fur to withstand temperatures of 40 degrees below zero in winter.
Even in spring, temperatures regularly dip below freezing.

The camp TV is a big, flat-screen.
Uuganbaatar follows sports on the Internet, especially the NBA. His favorite
team is the Orlando Magic with its towering center, Dwight Howard.

Mining has been good for
Uuganbaatar. He makes $500 a month — in a country where the annual per capita
GDP is about $2,500 — and Mongolia”s mineral reserves are so vast, he could
probably spend the next several decades working them.

But his father sees mining as a
threat. Mines need water to process minerals and the mine that employs his son
plans to tap into an aquifer beneath the family”s grazing land.

The local government had designated
the area as protected, but Mongolia”s central government has an ownership stake
in the mine, and last year, it decided otherwise.

Resignation About The Future

Bat-Erdene is bracing himself.

“It was a very hard hit for us,
because it is only going to speed up desertification and we can see how
desertification is already moving at a very high speed,” he said,
surrounded by parched clumps of grass.

Rising temperatures and decreasing
annual rainfall has led to more sandstorms, and surface water sources such as
rivers and lakes are drying out a rapid rate, according to the Mongolian government
and nongovernmental organizations. Mongolian officials say that about 70
percent of Mongolia is now suffering from desertification.

Officials at the mine say it will
draw from a deep aquifer and won”t affect herders” wells, but Bat-Erdene
doesn”t believe it.

“Animals will be thirsty,
people will be thirsty, it will be very hard,” he says. Bat-Erdene
supports his son”s new career in what is becoming Mongolia”s national industry.
As to the dispute over water, he doesn”t bring it up.

“It wouldn”t change
anything,” Bat-Erdene says, “so we don”t talk too much about
it.”

By Frank Langfitt

Source: http://www.npr.org