Sandwatch adapted for use in Mongolia
"Desertification Watch” starts in Mongolia
Global issues such as climate change, desertification, land degradation, air pollution, and water deterioration are facing people around the world. Mongolia covers one percent of the earth's surface, is isolated from oceans, lacks surface water, experiences an extreme continental climate, consists mainly of semi-desert and desert and is vulnerable to climate change. Desertification is a serious issue in Mongolia and is also a global environmental deterioration issue.
Mongolia has a very different environment to that of small island developing states. Yet the approach used in Sandwatch is also relevant to desertification in Mongolia.
Professor Batchuluun Yembuu together with her colleagues at the Department of Geography, Mongolian State University of Education developed a new programme called Desertification Watch: Learning to Combat Desertification, which adopted the Sandwatch methodology, M.A.S.T., which stands for Measure, Analyse, Share and Take action,
Adopting the same enquiry based learning approach as used in Sandwatch, Desertification Watch employs simple methods and low-cost small scale equipment to measure:
Weather and climate
Rocks and minerals
Water supply
Soil cover
Plants and animals
Pasture degradation and carrying capacity
Traditional knowledge and local wisdom
The data are analysed, shared with the community and simple activities implemented to combat desertification.
“Desertification Watch” was developed by the Department of Geography, Mongolian State University of Education, with support of the UNESCO Beijing Office, the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO and the Japan Funds-in-trust.
At present it is being piloted in secondary schools in two areas of Mongolia, Uulbayan and Tumentsogt soum and Sukhbaatar aimag
The Desertification Watch manual is presently available in Mongolian and an English version is in preparation for publication in 2017.
By Dr. Gillian Cambers, Co-Director, The Sandwatch Foundation
Global issues such as climate change, desertification, land degradation, air pollution, and water deterioration are facing people around the world. Mongolia covers one percent of the earth's surface, is isolated from oceans, lacks surface water, experiences an extreme continental climate, consists mainly of semi-desert and desert and is vulnerable to climate change. Desertification is a serious issue in Mongolia and is also a global environmental deterioration issue.
Mongolia has a very different environment to that of small island developing states. Yet the approach used in Sandwatch is also relevant to desertification in Mongolia.
Professor Batchuluun Yembuu together with her colleagues at the Department of Geography, Mongolian State University of Education developed a new programme called Desertification Watch: Learning to Combat Desertification, which adopted the Sandwatch methodology, M.A.S.T., which stands for Measure, Analyse, Share and Take action,
Adopting the same enquiry based learning approach as used in Sandwatch, Desertification Watch employs simple methods and low-cost small scale equipment to measure:
Weather and climate
Rocks and minerals
Water supply
Soil cover
Plants and animals
Pasture degradation and carrying capacity
Traditional knowledge and local wisdom
The data are analysed, shared with the community and simple activities implemented to combat desertification.
“Desertification Watch” was developed by the Department of Geography, Mongolian State University of Education, with support of the UNESCO Beijing Office, the Mongolian National Commission for UNESCO and the Japan Funds-in-trust.
At present it is being piloted in secondary schools in two areas of Mongolia, Uulbayan and Tumentsogt soum and Sukhbaatar aimag
The Desertification Watch manual is presently available in Mongolian and an English version is in preparation for publication in 2017.
By Dr. Gillian Cambers, Co-Director, The Sandwatch Foundation