Mongolia is economically largely depending on mining and industry whilst 40% of the population"s livelihoods depend on animal husbandry and rain-fed agriculture. Forestry and agriculture are closely interlinked. Forests, mostly boreal forests, cover around 8.71% of the territory, but lack sustainable management. Forest value chains are underdeveloped, and little value is added to forest products. To that adds forest loss and degradation due to overgrazing by livestock, wildfire and pests. Thus, forestry contributes only 0.3% to the GDP with more than 10.000 employees. Climate change accelerates these developments and compromises essential ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, clean air and water and protection against soil erosion and landslides. The Multi-Donor Action "Sustainable ecosystem and agriculture management for rural development in Mongolia" (STREAM+ , 08/2024 to 07/2028) is jointly co-financed by the European Union and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ and its partner FAO (agricultural aspects). The part implemented by GIZ is part of the BMZ project "Supporting Protected Areas for the Conservation of Ecosystem Services (SPACES) II" and lasts from 03/2024 to 07/2028. The Specific Objectives of STREAM+ are: 1. Improved regulatory and/or policy framework to enable sustainable, climate-sensitive and gender inclusive management of forests and agriculture areas, and a fit-for-purpose Technical vocational and education training (TVET) sector. 2. Adopted integrated landscape management with focus on agriculture and forestry addressing food system challenges and climate change. 3. Developed and strengthened selected sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture and forestry value chains. 4. Enhanced capacities of TVET to meet labour market needs in close partnership with the private sector in agriculture and forestry, ensuring an increase of women and girls" participation. The forest-related Outputs of STREAM+ are: (i) strengthening of sustainable and climate-sensitive landscape management approaches, including the legal framework, (ii) mainstreaming of effective, sustainable, climate-resilient and integrated forest and land management practices, (iii) integration of green and digital technologies in value chains of forest- and agriculture products. The tender is relevant only for forest areas and forestry. TVET agricultural planning and activities are not part of the tender. Partners: The counterpart of the forest component of STREAM+ is the Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MECC), with the newly created National Forest Agency (NFA) acting as the main implementation partner. The Mongolian Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry (MoFALI) is another important partner in fostering the development of value chains for forest-based products. Intervention area: the forest component is implemented in 3 Aimags (10 Soums): Khentii (Soums: Batshireet, Bayan-Adrada, Binder and Umnudelger), Khuvsgul (Soums: Galt, Jargalant), and Selenge (Soums: Khuder, Javkhlant, Mandal, and Yeruu). Target Group: The target group comprises policymakers involved in developing and revising the forest law and other forest-related regulations and policies, as well as the various stakeholders engaged in implementing forest regulations (Aimag Forest Divisions, Inter-Soum / Soum Forest Units, Professional Forest Enterprises PFE, Forest User Groups FUG). Cooperation with the private sector is envisioned for strengthening sustainable wood and non-wood forest products value chains, as well as with the Mongolian Forestry Association, the Mongolian Association of Forest and Wood Processing Professionals, the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI), and EuroChamber Mongolia. Further coordination is planned with research institutions, such as Mongolian universities and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

Support for protected areas as a contribution to the preservation of ecosystem services (SPACES II)

All services contribute to achieve the project objectives of STREAM+ (Output 4 of SPACES II) and comprise four work packages (WP): WP 1 concentrates on mainstreaming, institutionalisation, capacity building and implementation of/for climate-resilient, sustainable and inclusive forest management (SFM+) at the local and strategic-political level, with the following main activities as i) multi-stakeholder workshops to identify solutions for climate-resilient forest use and to strengthen the role of Forest User Groups in SFM+, ii) elaboration and testing of a vertical structure concept of NFA and iii) technical advice on selected forestry policy instruments and for reporting on forest management planning, implementation and monitoring (FMPIM). Selected main results are improved legislation and policies and FMPIM reports. WP2 provides capacity building of NFA, local forest administration, PFE, FUG in planning, implementation and monitoring of SFM+ with the main activities i) advice territorial plan development working groups at local level, ii) elaborate a climate risk study related to forest management, iii) execute a gap analysis on needs of digital precision technologies, iv) improve fire management structures and approaches, v) update planning and inventory methods, v) support the development of SFM+ plans, vi) capacity building on local level regarding silviculture, improved fire management, remote sensing tools, and vii) analyse and recommend relevant actors on basic forest economic data. Selected main results are 15 elaborated and partly implemented plans for SFM+, 2.105.931 ha of forests under sustainable management and 7 local territorial development plans incorporating SFM+ principles. WP 3.a aims on strengthening sustainable inclusive forest-based value chains (VC) with Forest User Groups (FUG) and Micro-, Small- and Medium Enterprises (MSME). The focus is on timber forest products (TFP) from thinning and dead wood as well as non-timber forest products (NTFP). Main activities are i) multi-stakeholder roundtables on VC, ii) elaborate training material and conduct trainings on VC, iii) conduct studies on market opportunities, limitations, feasibilities, iv) advice national partners on the mentioned topics and v) develop recommendations for related policy instruments. Main results are a certain number of studies, capacity building measures and reinforced forestry-related VC. WP 3.b focuses on strengthening entrepreneurial and networking capacities of FUG and MSME with regard to formal markets, adding value and achieving a positive return on sustainable forest management that improves forest health and climate resilience. If feasible, synergies with national business incubator service providers and TVET shall be fostered. Main activities are i) support to selected FUG to become private entities to implement SFM+ activities, ii) a capacity-building needs assessment and relevant training for incubator service providers, iii) capacity building to FUG and MSME regarding organisational and entrepreneurial capacities, building strategic partnerships, business plans, product development, work safety and traceability systems. Main results are i) 10 FUG with a bankable business plan for forest management, ii) 3 user agreements for legal and sustainable use of TFP and NTFP and iii) 100 (green) jobs supported.