Perceiving the climate crisis: pastoral futures and ecosystem compensation in post-socialist Mongolia

This paper presents findings from ethnographic research on post-socialist herding groups in Mongolia, situated within the broader context of the climate crisis. The transition to a market economy in the 1990s – marked by livestock privatization and the dissolution of herder collectives – resulted in fragmented herding practices and intensified pressure on rangelands already affected by mining and climate change. In response to these challenges, Pasture User Groups (PUGs) were established with the support and initiative of donor organisations. This study draws on fieldwork conducted among members of a PUG engaged in pasture rehabilitation and biodiversity compensation in Bayangol sum, Selenge aimag. It explores how herders perceive climate change, ecological restoration, and the narratives that underpin such interventions, particularly in relation to their livelihoods and perception of the landscape they inhabit. The findings illustrate how herders interpret and respond to environmental change through socially embedded narratives and adaptive practices, revealing the dynamic interplay between lived experience, collective memory, and global climate discourses in a context of socio-economic uncertainty.