Activities and Research in 2023
In 2023, the Expedition with an Academic was divided into two stages, in direct relation to the activities of the STREAM project. Three students attended the summer trip, during which the research focused primarily on the STREAM pilot sites and urban greenery in Ulaanbaatar. As well as conducting research, the students prepared the project’s demonstration sites on sustainable forest management and obtained practical forestry experience in fencing, taking forest inventories and marking clearings.
In contrast, the autumn trip for the remaining two students focused mainly on marking and planning hiking and nature trails in the vicinity of Ulaanbaatar, with activities in the STREAM project areas forming the second part of the trip. During this period, the primary focus of the professional practice was on reforestation, with a significant emphasis also placed on forestry education, in which the students played an active role.
The research topics addressed by students in 2023 were:
- Soil moisture and temperature assessment as a basis for permafrost monitoring and forest management adjustment
- Classification of forest and forest-steppe habitats in Mongolia based on a pedological survey
- Specifics of public green space maintenance in Mongolian cities and assessment of its condition
- Mapping and preparation of an educational and hiking trail in the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
- Mapping and preparation of an educational and hiking trail in the Bogd Khan Uul protected area
Activities and Research in 2024
This trip, organised for the end of June and beginning of July 2024, focused on education and research in sustainable forest management, the social aspects of forestry and landscape care, biodiversity conservation, hydropedology, and forest restoration in regions affected by intensive grazing and progressive aridification. Seven sites of interest were visited as part of the research work, with most of the year’s activities also linked to STREAM project sites. As the STREAM project had ended by the beginning of 2024, the trip could focus more on research and data collection, making it more ‘scientific’ than the previous year. At the same time, however, the presence of a forest educator enabled implementation of forest education activities for Mongolian children and work to be carried out in the laboratories of the Mongolian University of Life Sciences.
Each student in Mongolia worked on their own topic. These topics varied in terms of the time, personnel, physical and organisational demands required. Some topics could only be implemented at a limited number of sites (e.g. ecophysiological mapping and a questionnaire survey on sustainable tourism), while others could be implemented at all sites (e.g. infiltration tests and a questionnaire survey of pastoralists). Where a particular research topic was not planned at a given site, the student responsible for its implementation helped their colleagues with their research. Consequently, all students were fully involved in the field trip, gaining experience in various research areas.
The research topics addressed by students in 2004 were as follows:
- Evaluation of saturated hydraulic conductivity of soils
- Development of tourism and design of educational tourist routes
- Evaluation of the success of tree planting implemented within the STREAM project
- Assessment of phytocenosis and grazing intensity on biomass production on steppes
- Forest nurseries evaluation
- Assessment of soil moisture in fire-logged forest compared to undamaged forest
- Ecophysiological response of linear planting of poplars along a soil moisture gradient
- Destination management in rural Mongolia
- Sociological mapping of development aid priorities and impacts
- Overgrazing in Mongolian forest steppes from the perspective of herders