Birch Grove Nature Preserve
Birch Grove Nature Preserve is an new initiative started by Edurelief in partnership with the Bugat soum goverment and Margad Deed Surguul of Erdenet City. The goal of this project is to teach local students and children about the importance of nature and forest protection and to promote community involvement in restoring at risk forest areas. The Bugat soum government has provide Edurelief with a large, at-risk piece of land just outside of Erdenet in an area which has been devastated by illegal logging, discarded garbage, and overgrazing. By using this project as an example, Edurelief aims to promote awareness of these issues to local students and community members and work together to preserve and restore damaged nature and forest areas near Erdenet, and around Mongolia.
Why this is important. With increasingly harsh weather, harmful mining practices, deforestation, and overgrazing Mongolia is facing an environmental disaster. It is crucial to begin educating and encouraging communities and their younger generations to care for their land and country, protecting it from harmful, destructive practices that are simply motivated by greed and corruption.
About Birch Grove. We have 190 acres of at-risk forest land. The ground is littered with both fresh and decomposing stumps from illegal logging, the soil dry from overgrazing and losing the shade of a once present tree canopy. The only signs of animal life are the occasional bird passing through and a local variety of ground squirrel. Just south of the land is a vast, treeless plain that only 15 years ago was a thick forest. Crossing over the northern ridges bordering the land leads into thicker forest areas where plant varieties still exist in abundance and signs of animal life are everywhere. The goal of this project is to see this area restored to a similar state and avoid it becoming more and more like the dry plains to the south, which it will if nothing is done.
Our plan. With local community members and students Edurelief plans to plant hundreds of local tree and plant varieties and run seminars on land management and upkeep. With your help and investment we can move this project forward quickly and provide a successful example of nature and forest restoration and preservation to the Erdenet and surrounding local governments. Our hope is that it will inspire other communities to do the same and other at-risk areas around Mongolia will be restored to and protected in their natural state.
