Sustainable Economic Development

The Mongolia Natural Resource Management Program

The goal of the Mongolia Natural Resource Management Program is to develop research, exchanges, and policy recommendations within the Mongolian portion of the Selenga watershed. The Selenga river is the most significant tributary flowing into the Lake Baikal basin. Since 1998, TBI has been developing projects within Mongolia focusing on cross-cultural exchanges, water quality assessments, and mining sector practices on Selenga tributaries.

In 1999, TBI extended its Summer Environmental Exchange Program to Mongolia where TBI staff and participants made contact with Mongolian research institutions, NGO's, and government institutions to secure future partnerships. The TBI group also traveled to Lake Huvsgul, Baikal's "little sister" that is located in the same rift zone. Click here for more information on this trip.

In 2001, TBI received a grant from the Giles W. and Elise G. Mead Foundation to complete a water quality study of Selenga tributaries in Mongolia. A team of scientists from the U.S., Russia, and Mongolia studied several tributaries in August 2001. Click here for a preliminary report on this project.

The "Great Baikal Trail" Eco-Tourism Development Project

The Great Baikal Trail represents an ambitious endeavor to apply the lessons learned from the recently completed 150+ mile "Tahoe Rim Trail" in constructing a "Great Baikal Trail" around Lake Baikal in Russia stretching almost 1,200 miles. TBI is a proud partner of the Friends of the Great Baikal Trail NGO, Earth Island Institute, the USDA Forest Service office of International Programs, the Tahoe Rim Trail, and the Buryat Regional Association of Tourism to develop this project which was originally suggested almost 30 years ago by the Russian Oleg Gusev.

The GBT will be useful not only to develop the infrastructure for safer and lower-impact hiking, it will also provide opportunities for providing income to local villages and also the opportunity for setting up permanent lake-monitoring programs.

2002 USDA Partnership Activities

TBI is partnering with the USDA Forest Service office of International Program to support trail building, eco-tourism, protected area management and a general cultural exchange between Lake Tahoe and Lake Baikal. The exchanges occurred between June 2002-2003 and included three Russian Forest Service and National Park professionals traveling to the United States and one USFS Master Trail Builder traveling to Lake Baikal. This effort also included a Baikal workshop where all participants discussed their exchange experience and a Baikal interpretive brochure to be completed by Hank Birnbaum.

Within these exchanges, one Russian participant attended the 2002 USDA Forest Service International Seminar on Protected Areas Management, one Russian participant completed a four-month trail building internship with the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, one participant worked with Tahoe eco-tourism experts to develop the "Great Baikal Trail" concept, and a USFS representative led two training workshops at Lake Baikal on state-of-the-art trail maintenance for local park and forest officials in June 2003.

Please contact TBI for more information on these exchanges.

For more information about the Tahoe Rim Trail effort go to www.tahoerimtrail.org.
For more information about the GBT effort click here.