The Hustai National Park Biodiversity Project is operated in conjunction with the Bufferzone Project. The area around Hustai National Park is known as the bufferzone because it provides a physical buffer between Hustai (which has no fences) and the densely populated farmland beyond. Conservation of biodiversity is not possible without the participation of local people. Many herders lost access to valuable seasonal grazing land when Hustai became a protected area. For herders this means a potential loss of income and a change in their traditional herding practices. MACNE and FRPH acknowledge this and recognise the importance of having local people develop a sense of ownership and commitment to Hustai National Park.

The Bufferzone Project seeks to engage local people in a number of ways and make Hustai National Park an important part of the larger community. The park has a policy of giving preference to locals who apply for positions. Cleaners, drivers and maintenance staff are hired from families who live in the bufferzone. Herders are employed and trained as rangers and wardens to monitor the daily health and behaviour of the Takhi and to protect the park from poachers and domestic stock encroachment. Local people have been trained as guides for Hustai but many are shy about their English proficiency and so more English classes will be provided before they start work.

Hustai National Park supports the local economy by providing funds to establish small industries in the soums that make up the park's land. With financial support from DGIS, a cheese factory was established in Altanbulag. The factory is wholly owned and operated by the soum's herders who vacated the park. A yoghurt factory was built in the village of Bayankhangai and the Doen Foundation from the Netherlands has supported Argalant village in re-establishing a small flour mill. As is the case with many new businesses, some of these factories have thrived while others have encountered problems. Hustai National Park is not seeking to replace the supporting role that the former Soviet regime provided in rural Mongolia. Business plans are developed between Hustai staff and local people with Hustai providing initial financing. If a business encounters difficulties, Hustai management will discuss options with factory shareholders but will not subsidise an unprofitable factory. The goal is to encourage local initiative and help to establish ways to earn income that do not soley rely on traditional farming practices.

For local women who wish to start small ventures, Hustai National Park administers a micro-finance scheme. It commenced in May 1999 and has, to date, granted loans ranging from 50,000 Tg to 300,000 Tg (or about US$50 to US$300) to 244 women. The scheme is only available to women as most men earn money as herders and those men who applied for loans in the past used the money to purchase cars or farming equipment and defaulted on the loans. Loans are either short term (one to three months) or long term (three to six months), and interest rates vary depending on the economic status of the applicants. Single mothers and women from the poorest families are required to pay 2% interest on loans whereas all other women must pay 4%. These interest rates are much lower than the standard 10% that is charged by pawn shops found throughout Mongolia.

The soum centre of Bayankhangai is situated on a major transport route and many women have used the loans to establish guanz (small restaurants) or tuuts (roadside shops). Other women make canvas ger coverings or cloth wall hangings to line the inside of gers. In Argalant, only a few women have applied for loans with which they have opened tuuts. Altanbulag is the closest of the three soum centres to Ulaanbaatar and women tend to sell their produce at markets in the capital. They make dels, del jackets and shoes.

Some women would like to start their own businesses but don't feel they have the necessary skills. To overcome this, Hustai National Park offers training with experts being invited from Ulaanbaatar to conduct courses in the soums. Alternatively, skilled workers such as bakers or seamstresses may be chosen from the soum and sent to Ulaanbaatar for additional training. On her return she shares her knowledge with the other women of the soum. Courses conducted over the last two years include carpet making, Old Mongolian Script, English, del making, sewing European clothes, baking, making children's shoes and knitting. Courses incorporating life skills such as health, ecology and business management have also been conducted.

In October 2000, a five year medical and hygiene project concluded. Supported by FRPH, MACNE, DGIS and several Dutch hospitals, the project was deemed a success. Its aims were to increase the health and hygiene awareness of the local population, train local nurses and provide equipment to local hospitals. Records kept by the nurse stationed at Hustai National Park show that each year less patients are being treated. Herders are starting to take basic medication at home with the first symptoms of an illness rather than waiting for the deterioration of their health before seeking help. The nurse at Hustai provides low cost or free basic medication such as paracetamol and antibiotics so that herders have medication at hand when its needed, and the project has provided more local nurses to support the region. As the result of improved education, an increasing number of women are giving birth to their babies in hospitals rather than at home in less hygienic environments. Although the medical project has officially finished, a nurse and ambulance are still available at Hustai and clinics are held whenever there is a bufferzone women's conference or similar gathering. A doctor is brought in from Ulaanbaatar to conduct routine health check-ups and present information about women's health. Birth control is generally the most popular topic.

Hustai National Park also provides funding for a range of other projects within the soum centres and throughout the rest of the community:

• Wood was bought to repair a bridge on the road between Altanbulag and Hustai National Park,
• A yak bull, billy goat and ram were bought to assist local herders to improve the bloodlines of their stock,
• A cattle dip was built and vaccinations are now provided for livestock,
• Funds have been provided to the local boarding school and hospitals,
• Wells have been dug to provide permanent water, and,
• winter fodder has been distributed amongst local herders to reduce grazing pressure in winter.

The aim of the Hustai National Park Bufferzone Project is to increase the health and quality of life of herders while avoiding the danger of welfare-dependent apathy. It is hoped the result will be a bufferzone community that is less dependent on the natural resources inside the park, thus allowing Hustai National Park to restore and maintain its natural biological diversity.

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