Editorial Team
April 4, 2024
Odonchimeg Batsukh, GPJ Mongolia
A typical cedar forest during winter in Nariin Ulunt, Ikhtamir soum, Arkhangai province.
IKHTAMIR, ARKHANGAI PROVINCE, MONGOLIA — A vast forest in Mongolia is covered with thick sheets of snow that hide everything except the tall cedar trees. Despite temperatures that dip well below zero and a cold that chills to the bone, these evergreen trees, some as old as 300 to 500 years, pompously show off their dazzling shades of green amid the blanket of white. Standing close to these trees, cedar cones emanate a whiff of fresh wood with a hint of resin.
But as you walk deeper into the forest, you see this poetry, like scenery, change every step of the way. Swaths of cedars stand with their missing hunks of bark and their trunks bleeding sap, a gum-like fluid. The majestic cedars have been violently and frequently knocked with heavy objects for years now.
To force pine cones to drop from the branches in early August while the cedar nuts, locally called samar, are still unripe, nut harvesters in the country strike these trees using two-legged wooden mallets that are as heavy as 35 kilograms (77 pounds). The practice is harmful to the health of the tree, and it’s also illegal by falling outside the approved timeline for harvest, says Bat-Erdene Dolgorsuren, a senior state inspector at the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
The government’s export priorities recently moved toward non-mining goods, including the export of cedar nuts. That has some people secretly harvesting the nuts before the stipulated period of Oct. 20 to Feb. 1. This rush, they say, is to support their livelihood. But it is placing Mongolia’s rare cedar forests in danger of extinction.
In 2021, Mongolia became the 10th largest exporter of cedar nuts at 290 billion Mongolian togrog (85 million United States dollars) worth of shelled nuts. In 2022, the country exported 280 billion togrog (82 million dollars), 94% of which went to China, according to the International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.
The economy of Mongolia remains dependent on its mining sector, which makes up about 90% of the country’s exports. To diversify its economy, Mongolia has been exporting semi-processed nuts since the early 2000s.
A cedar nut, which is light yellow in color and half the size of a coffee bean, tastes a bit like an almond. The marrow of the nut can be eaten directly by breaking the outer shell. Mongolians consume roasted nuts or fry it with the shell over a low flame. Rich in amino acids, omega-3, zinc, magnesium and vitamin B, cedar nuts have health benefits, such as balancing protein deficiency, boosting the immune system, improving cardiovascular functions and reducing weight. These benefits helped create an international market for the nuts.
In all, cedar nuts help pump an average of 11.9 billion togrog (3.5 million dollars) each year into the Mongolian budget, says Oyunsanaa Byambasuren, head of the Forest Department, a government implementing agency.
In Mongolia, nut harvesters sell their processed nuts to middlemen at rates of 8,000 to 10,000 togrog per kilogram (from 1.06 to 1.33 dollars per pound). The middlemen then sell the nuts to processing plants and Chinese retailers for 12,000 togrog per kilogram (1.60 dollars per pound). Ultimately, exported nut products are cleaned and processed in China and sold to the US and other European markets at prices that are 16 to 30 times higher.
As exports increase, so does the destruction of cedar forests. Forests cover less than 8% of Mongolia, with cedars covering 5.2%. Cedar forest areas have decreased by 12.3% in the past 10 years. The Mongolian government set a goal to increase forested areas to 9% of its territory. To this end, it aims to plant a billion trees by 2030, including 44.4 million cedar trees. However, it takes about 50 years for cedar trees to grow. And since the tree has a slow regeneration period, it only starts producing nuts at the age of 25 to 45.
Ankhaa, a resident of Arkhangai province who requested that only his first name be used for fear of legal consequences, harvests nuts from the middle of August until the end of October. On a usual day, he places the mallet on his shoulder, swaying it back and forth as he prepares to hit. As he knocks the tree with it, a muffled sound is produced, and the pine cones swiftly fall on the ground. Ankhaa admits that this method damages the trees. But with no regular job at hand, he says, “Local residents deserve what nature provides us for free.”
Nut harvesters who illegally harvest choose older trees of 60 to 120 years, roughly middle age for a cedar. “First, [because] the old trees shake easily; second, these are mature trees with good seed yields,” says Oyunmaa Jamsran, an ecologist, biologist and board member of the Mongolian Environmental Citizen’s Council, a nonprofit focused on conservation and protection.
In the beginning of October, when nut pods are fully mature, they fall to the ground on their own. But around August, the pine cones are rich in resin, helping them stick to stems tightly. This means harvesters must use force to dislodge them. Knocking a cedar tree with a mallet does more damage than breaking off branches and outer bark. It also damages the inner layers that help feed and water the tree. Without its protective layers, a tree can be eaten by insects. The damage is often so severe that the tree stops growing.
In Mongolia, the Law on Forest controls and regulates forest resources, including cedar nuts. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism sets quotas and grants licenses to enterprises to collect, process and export the nuts. Still, so many people collect the nuts illegally that there is now a clandestine business network of buying, storing, processing and selling cedar nuts.
“Nut factories in the country do not have formal employees,” says Byamba-Ochir Batdelger, executive director of Tengerleg Mongolia (which translates to Land of Heavenly Mongolia), an Ulaanbaatar-based environmental protection organization that has been protecting the cedar forest since 2021. “Early August, the factories pay people in advance and send them to the forest to harvest.”
Ganbaatar Vandanmyagmar, a herder from Khuvsgul province, blames people from urban areas — who he says have no idea how to properly harvest nuts — for destroying the cedar forest. “All they see is money.”
In the end, Mongolia ends up destroying its forests for a share of a global market where “there are no such things as Mongolian nuts,” says Byamba-Ochir. “The Chinese package, label and sell them at a higher price.”
Cedar forests have crucial ecological and economic significance. They regulate the flow of rivers and prevent soil erosion. They provide a home and food to birds such as woodpeckers, rodents such as chipmunks and squirrels, and other wildlife such as bears and pigs. Forest law directs that between 50% and 60% of the pine cones should be left for forest animals, and to ensure natural growth.
But on the ground, the reality is different, Byamba-Ochir says. “Destroying nature and feeding our children to live [only for] today is not the most patriotic way to live.”
Dolgormaa Sandagdorj and Odonchimeg Batsukh are Global Press Journal reporters based in Mongolia.
TRANSLATION NOTE
Otgonbaatar Tsedendemberel, GPJ, translated this story from Mongolian.