Rights groups report exposes mining’s serious threats to defenders, local communities and environment www.forum-asia.org

Mining operations, regardless of their scale and nature, are posing a series of concrete threats to the environment and local communities of the districts (soums) of Binder, Batnorov, and Tsagaan-Ovoo, in north-eastern Mongolia.

Mongolia's capital bans extraction of black earth www.xinhuanet.com

The municipal government of Ulan Bator has announced a ban on the extraction of black earth in the Mongolian capital.

Loro Piana Explores The Origins Of Cashmere In Mongolia (With The Help Of Some Frolicking Goats) www.vogue.co.uk

It’s Friday night in Shanghai and Loro Piana, the world’s most esteemed wool and cashmere brand, has invited an eclectic assortment of editors, film stars and goat herders from around the world to attend the brand’s first film premiere. It’s a curious mix – an assemblage of Chinese superstars wearing cashmere gowns alongside Mongolian farmers dressed in traditional garb – but, when the lights go down and a 33-piece orchestra raises their instruments to begin scoring the screening, even the most quizzical appear momentarily quelled. After all, you’d have to be fairly hardy not to melt at the Luc Jacquet short that followed: a remarkably charming exploration of the origin of the brand’s finest cashmere and the lives of those who farm it, complete with endless scenes of lovely animals doing lovely things, the frothy tendrils of their precious coats catching on wooden pens and floating in the breeze.

At one point, a tiny baby goat is born and then dressed in a makeshift checked jacket to protect it from the weather; later, two Mongolian toddlers stagger towards it clutching bottles of milk to feed it with. There are goats who nimbly ascend icy mountains (the harsher the climes, the softer the cashmere). A year in the life of a goat and a goat herder is turned into a picture-perfect 20-minute documentary – and it’s captivating. But why?

“I think as a brand we’re lucky enough to have fantastic stories and fantastic heritage to tell to our customers. I think we also have the privilege of very interesting customers,” explains the brand CEO Fabio d'Angelantonio. “Loro Piana is a brand that attracts customers who are quality seekers. They look for beauty, they look for quality. They’re interested in understanding why this jacket is better than another jacket, and understanding the process behind it.” What better way, then, to showcase the quality of the products the brand manufactures than to invite an Academy Award-winning documentary maker to spend as much time as he pleases embedded among Mongolian herdsmen, observing and capturing the earliest stages in the lifecycle of a cashmere jumper? How better to prove the value of its final manifestation than through an exploration of its origin?

After all, the very essence of Loro Piana is found in the raw materials for its products: the brand’s designs aren’t flashy, its logo never prominent – the fabrics are simply the best. Over recent years, the label has dedicated much of its efforts to ensuring that sentiment can be sustained, working alongside the University of Camerino and the Agricultural University of Jilin to develop practices to help farmers to improve the quality of fibres harvested from their flock. While there are plenty of cut-price cashmere and fast-fashion brands who are happy to take huge quantities of lesser variants of goat hair, the better the fibres, the more money Loro Piana can pay for them – and thus less farming need actually ever take place.

“All this makes an entire cycle sustainable for the region and the nature,” explains d'Angelantonio. “Because you can have communities that are economically sustained without putting the land at risk.” Essentially: if your flock is good enough to supply Loro Piana, you can get paid more for less farming, which puts less pressure on the farmers and the land alike. It makes a convincing case for the idea that less is more.

That idea is, in fact, what inspired Jacquet to embark on this project. After winning an Oscar for The March Of The Penguins in 2006, “For me, it was very obvious that I had to do something… So, I did a lot of movies around the relationship with nature. I set up an NGO, but I was, at the same time, absolutely convinced that nothing would be possible without economical connection with the big brands and the big companies.” Then, he met Loro Piana for the first time and “for them, being sustainable was pure economic realism: it was a way to secure the fibres, to secure the relationship with the breeders. I really like that, because for me it was an example that shows that you can make money, you can have a successful economic model, and you can be sustainable.”

The idea that sustainability can be seen as a financially savvy future, is perhaps the best way of looking at how a capitalist world can navigate away from the climate crisis; rather than assuming that nobody is going to buy anything again, or trying to coerce people against investing in fashion, encouraging transparent supply chains and environmentally friendly profitability seems like the only way forward. “It’s not sustainable because it’s fashionable today to be involved in this,” says d'Angelantonio. “I think this company has sustainability in its DNA, by definition, because our business starts from nature, and it would be crazy not to be respectful towards nature when managing such a business.” He certainly makes a good case for it. And, if you need any further convincing that a Loro Piana scarf comes from absolutely charming beginnings, then watch the film. Or, if you’d just like to see some frolicking goats. Both are on offer here.

Mineral and raw material processing laboratory set up www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A Mongolia-China joint mineral and raw material processing laboratory has been established at the Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences (MAS).

Bear shot and killed in Mongolia after destroying ger www.news.mn

A black bear has been shot and killed in Bat-Shireet Soum of Khentii Province after destroying a ger (yurt). Fortunately, the ger was empty when the animal attacked.

Mongolia secures ADB/World Bank support to build 10,000 new sustainable homes www.smart-energy.com

The Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar's city municipality has secured support from the Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation to build 10,000 new energy-efficient homes.

Steppe change: how Mongolian rock band the Hu conquered the world www.theguardian.com

Combining ‘a blend of the east and west’, the Hu have found their way to 45m YouTube views, a smash hit debut album and the admiration of Elton John

“HU!! HU!! HU!!,” yelled the crowd, at escalating volume, for a full 20 minutes before the Hu kicked off their recent concert at the Brooklyn venue, Warsaw. The fans who packed the place, many of whom were decked out in de rigueur heavy metal gear of black T-shirts and leather, thrust their fists into the air in rhythm to their chants, which grew to a roar the moment the band appeared.

The imposing-looking members of the Hu sported leather too, only theirs bore the elaborate patterns and symbols of their homeland, Mongolia. And instead of singing in English, they sang exclusively in their native tongue, delivered in the ancient art of khoomei, or throat singing. In the same vein, their instruments mixed the slashing electric guitars and pounding drums of the west with the richness of the morin khuur (a two-stringed, horse-head fiddle), the tinniness of the tuvshuur (a Mongolian guitar) and the quaver of the tumor khuur (a jaw harp). The beat they kept didn’t so much punch, a la western metal, as gallop, a reference to the horses prized by the nomadic tribes of the band’s ancestors. With so bracing a combination of sights and sounds, the Hu have been forging a highly improbable connection between the complexities of traditional Mongolian music and the 10-ton force of western metal. Think: Genghis Khan ransacking Judas Priest.

“Our music is a blend of east and west, old and new,” said Galbadrakh Tsendbaatar, AKA Gala, the band’s lead singer, through a translator. “We’re building on a history and a sound that has been around for thousands of years.”

Never before, however, has that sound had the impact in the west it’s currently enjoying, courtesy of the Hu. Their first two videos, for Wolf Totem, and Yuve Yuve Yu (or How Strange, How Strange) have amassed more than 45m views on YouTube over the last year, while their debut album, The Gereg, opened at No 1 on Billboard’s Top New Artist chart and No 2 on the magazine’s Indie Label chart. Likewise, it hit No 2 on the UK’s Rock & Metal Album chart and No 4 on the Album Downloads list, while in Australia it broke the top five in overall digital sales. The Hu’s Facebook page has more than 300,000 followers.

Though the band only formed in 2016, their members have been playing their instruments and practicing the tricky rituals of throat singing for most of their lives. The four core members – who also include Enkush (Enkhsaikhan Batjargal), Jaya (Nyamjantsan Galsanjamts) and Temka (Temuulen Naranbaatar) – received formal training at the Mongolian State Music and Dance Conservatory in their country’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar. There, they absorbed a wide variety of music. “Everything from western classical music to jazz to rock and, of course, a lot of traditional Mongolian music,” said Gala.

Along the way, the musicians enjoyed a steady diet of metal, via Metallica, System of a Down and Rammstein. Such music from the west had been banned during the communist era of Mongolia, which ended in 1992. Though the band members were just children then, they remember the cultural upheaval well. “We had to go through hardship,” said Jaya. “The country fell into a financial crisis. But it was something we had to do and, because of that change, we are all able to play rock music.”

In fact, over the last two and a half decades, a significant contemporary music scene has developed in Ulaanbaatar, fleshed out by lots of local pop groups, (such as boy band Camerton), rock acts (like Altan Urag, whose music was featured in the Netflix series Marco Polo), and hip-hop artists (such as breakout star Mrs M, who will soon record in English). Even so, no one had the notion to translate credible, metallic rock to traditional Mongolian styles before B Dashdondog (AKA Dashka), the producer who formed the Hu. After years of working with local pop and rock groups who simply imitated western sounds, Dashka wanted to forge something fresher. So, he hand-picked the members of the Hu from the Conservatory to fulfill his vision. The band say they didn’t choose their name as a play on the Who’s, but because “hu” is the root word for human being in Mongolian. “We took the name because of the inclusive nature,” Temka said. “It’s not about being Mongolian. It’s about being human.”

At the same time, Mongolian themes dominate the band’s lyrics. Many salute their ancestors. “As Mongolians, we are raised to have a great respect for our elders and our history,” said Jaya. “We didn’t come here by ourselves. There are generations of people who paved the way.”

Important, too, in the band’s lyrics is a sensitivity to nature. “Human beings and nature are connected,” said Jaya. “And, as nomadic people, we have cattle and we have to move all around so we don’t destroy the land. We respect it.”

As Jaya explained, there’s an essential connection between nature and the intent of throat singing. “What we’re trying to do is imitate the sound of the water, and the sound of the wind,” he said. “Nature is right in our voices.”

While all the members long ago mastered the art of throat singing, it remains a difficult skill to learn. With khoomei, a single vocalist can produce two, or even three, notes at once by forcing air through a tightened throat. The guttural sound that the technique produces can remind western listeners of the dark cries of thrash singers. “Both put a lot of force on your throat,” said Jaya. “It creates a very energetic sound.”

The band’s video for Yuve Yuve Yu likewise stresses the connection between modernity and tradition. It opens with various band members in contemporary settings – an upscale coffee shop in Ulaanbaatar, or at home playing a video game – before Gala opens the door of his urban apartment to enter a vast expanse of mountains and lakes in Mongolia’s remote western region. The images that occupy the rest of the video are so stunning, they could double as a travelogue for the Mongolian tourist board. The band’s second video, for Wolf Totem, unites traditional Mongolian horse riders with leather-clad men on Harleys, suggesting an eastern take on Easy Rider. That connection underscores a bad-ass image that has made the band a natural for metal heads. The smash success of their two videos inspired a rash of labels to woo the band before they even completed their first album. They settled on Eleven Seven Music, home of metal acts from Mötley Crüe to Five Finger Death Punch.

“It wasn’t the amount of views of their videos that attracted us,” said Steve Kline, chief operating officer of Eleven Seven. “It was the fact that their sound is completely unique. We couldn’t even put a label on what they do. We just found ourselves saying, ‘we’re not exactly sure what this is. But it’s really good.”

The Hu’s debut, which the label released last month, took its name from something the Mongol Empire introduced to the world, the first diplomatic passport, which dates from the 1200s. “People think of the Mongol Empire as just warlords and warriors,” said Jaya. “But there are so many positive things the empire brought to the world, like the first postal system, the first international trading on the Silk Road and the diplomatic pass.”

The Hu’s music has become its own passport. Their current American tour has sold out more than half of its dates, and they’ll take their show to Europe at the end of the year and the UK at the start of 2020. For the live dates, they add four auxiliary members to the core foursome, making their sound even more forceful. For another lure, Eleven Seven has begun marketing remixes of their songs featuring cameos from a rash of American rockers, singing in English. The first, for Yuve Yuve Yu, boasts a guest vocal from Danny Case of the rock band From Ashes to New. All the exposure has even helped the Hu attract kudos from some big-name stars. “The other day, Elton John told me he’s a big fan of ours,” Gala said. “He told us it’s been many years since he has heard something this fresh in music.”

That’s good news for rock itself, given the fact that the genre is now often considered an old sound that’s past its peak. “We love rock,” Gala insisted. “But people have never heard it sound like this before. That’s why it’s connecting. It’s something new.”

Mongolia Tackles Development Challenges Posed by Internal Migration www.iom.int

Ulaanbaatar – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched a four-year project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), to improve understanding and management of internal migration in Mongolia.

After experiencing the collapse of the economic and social safety-net systems in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Mongolia has faced an uneven development path impacted by natural disasters, including extremely cold winters (dzuds), droughts and floods.

As a result, the capital, Ulaanbaatar, has become a magnet for Mongolians seeking safety, better economic opportunities and social services. It is now home to an estimated 1.4 million people or about half of Mongolia’s total population. Of these, about 600,000 live in the ger areas – spaces on the edge of the city where impoverished internal migrants have set up their traditional tent-houses.

In 2017, IOM, with the support from SDC, embarked on a pilot project to research the issue. Two research papers: Mongolia Internal Migration Study and Urban Migrant Vulnerability Assessment pushed internal migration up the national and local government agenda and formulated a theory of change for necessary interventions.

“Internal migration is now the most pressing issue in the country and my ministry welcomes this (new) project’s commitment to mainstream it into policy and management,” said State Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection (MLSP) Gombosuren Unurbayar.

Under the 2019-2023 project, IOM will work with the National Statistics Office (NSO) and the Ulaanbaatar Emergency Management Agency (UBEMA) to strengthen the government’s capacity to produce and analyse high-quality data on internal migration.

The project will also work with the MLSP and the Municipality of Ulaanbaatar to support the production of thematic research studies which will mainstream evidence-based migration governance. The recommendations will be operationalized in a Policy Roadmap that will help the government and civil society to reduce the vulnerability of internal migrants through improved access to information, services and targeted interventions.

“This partnership will be the driving force behind the project’s ultimate goal – to create the conditions for improved socio-economic well-being of internal migrants, thereby promoting inclusive growth, economic opportunities and social protection for vulnerable groups – a key aspiration of Mongolia Sustainable Development Vision 2030,” said IOM Chief of Mission for China and Mongolia Giuseppe Crocetti.

SDC’s Deputy Director of Cooperation and First Secretary in Mongolia Benoît Meyer-Bisch added: “In Mongolia, like elsewhere in the world, migration is a big challenge, but also a great opportunity. The Swiss Government sees migration as cross-cutting and therefore posing a risk to development. This project will provide direct services to migrants, will help to develop policies and a plan of action, and will take a multi-stakeholder approach in partnership with the government and NGOs.”

For more information please contact Joana Bala at IOM Mongolia, Tel: +976 94637810, Email: jbala@iom.int

Mongolia gets over 1.3-bln-USD FDI inflows in 8 months www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia attracted over 1.3 billion U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first eight months of 2019, showed data released by the country's central bank on Tuesday.

Mongolian vaccine plant reopens www.news.mn

The only manufacturer producing vaccines and bio-products has re-opened today (22 October) after being closed for 10 years due to the lack of equipment and accommodation problems.