Conserving biodiversity is one of the most effective tools we have in preventing catastrophic ecosystem collapse

Overgrazing is the clearest immediate threat to the ecosystems of the Altai. Anecdotal evidence for this is strong: local residents, living in the Delüün soum (district), commonly comment on the degraded nature of range-land that they have watched over the last 20 or 30 years. There are signs of nutritional stress in the herd. Large numbers die each winter, the proportion of females giving birth and the proportion of young animals in the population are both lower than normal for healthy animals in good condition

Since the the 1990’s, Mongolia has gone from 20 million grazing livestock to 61.5 million. As a consequence the landscape is shifting in subtle ways. Plants are becoming sparser and dead areas are emerging, accelerating soil erosion. Native grasses are being replaced with inedible species. At the same time, annual mean temperatures have increased by more than 2.0°C over the past century, more than double the global average, while rainfall has decreased and seasonal weather patterns have shifted.  

Native species of wildlife suffer from overgrazed and degraded grasslands. The consequences of increasing livestock numbers with the resulting over-exploitation of land, coupled with effects of climate change, has become the main contributing factor to the increase of species being categorized as endangered. For example, populations of Altai argali have coexisted with nomadic herders and their livestock for centuries, but today the impact of overgrazing by livestock on their habitats has pushed argali into marginal habitats that will lead to population declines. Argali are a primary prey species of top predators such as wolves and snow leopards. When the numbers of prey species decline, the decline of rare predators is not far behind.

Ninety percent of total degraded rangelands can be recovered naturally within 10 years if herders can shift to sustainable rangeland management. But if we can't change the existing management today, it will be too late. After five to 10 years Mongolia's grasslands will be transformed into an ecosystem that will be unusable, bringing an end native wild species and to Mongolians' traditional way of life.