Minister for Environment and
Tourism L.Gansukh answers questions.

How
are forest reclamation programs going?

Forest reclamation will work
better if we had the money to put more people on the job. We have decided to
put quality before quantity and have had good results. Forest users’ unions
were established in Zuunkharaa and Mandal soums as part of a program with German
cooperation. These have thrived. For example, Mandal soum was known for illegal
felling, where many people used to be arrested and a lot of timber confiscated.
But it was hard work to keep things under control. Arson used to be very
common. All this has stopped. If we have more such forest users’ unions and
give them responsibility and provide them with guidance, the future of Mongolia
will be bright.

Did
the decision to increase the amount of licensed felling help discourage illegal
logging?

I think it did. Our Ministry
has declared that 2010 is the year of the forest. The Forest Agency was
established only two years ago and there is a lot of work to do. Two years may
seem like a long time, but it is actually a very short time for measures to
show results. But we are optimist. Apart from human interference, natural
causes like fires and diseases also destroy forests. Conservation techniques
and stricter control of human violations of the law are showing results. We
must make it clear to criminals that it is not worth breaking the law.

The
UN Secretary General was here a year ago and promised funds for action against
climate change. What was the result?

President Elbegdorj
announced in the UN general assembly that the Government will hold a meeting in
Umnugobi province to draw people’s attention to the threats posed by climate
change. The Prime Minister has appointed a working group to deal with climate change.
It will train people on how to prepare projects that can be sent to international
organizations.

A
government meeting in the desert seems to be nothing more than an empty
gesture. How will it stop climate change?

It is meant to draw
international attention to the dangers Mongolia faces from climate change and
will follow special procedures to meet the goal.