On a crisp morning in May, Eotengbat, 50, gently adjusted the vines in his greenhouse in Argalant soum, where plump tomatoes hung like jewels under the Mongolian sun. Just a few years ago, this land was barren, and Eotengbat was among the thousands of climate refugees who had lost everything to dzud—a brutal winter that wiped out his livestock and forced him into the ger districts of Ulaanbaatar, scraping by on day labor. Today, he tends both crops and trees in a landscape transformed by vision, perseverance, and 100 hectares of restored forest.
Once a thriving wheat-growing region, Argalant soum in Tuv aimag had been slowly consumed by desertification. By the 2020s, its population had plummeted from over 2,600 in the 1990s to just 1,700, as families scattered in search of survival. But a quiet revolution began in 2016, when the Korean NGO Green Asia planted 20,160 windbreak trees across 20 hectares. By 2022, that effort had expanded tenfold, creating a 100-hectare forest where none had grown for decades.
The transformation went beyond trees. Green Asia drilled groundwater wells, installed irrigation systems, and brought in electrical infrastructure—including transformers and utility poles—enabling agriculture to return. "It is a scale of project that individuals or local governments find difficult to undertake," says Han Seung-jae, head of international programs at Green Asia. The goal was never just reforestation, but regeneration: building the foundation for a self-sustaining community.
Now, six greenhouses bloom with cucumbers, tomatoes, and watermelons—some selling for 40,000 tugrik each, a significant income in rural Mongolia. Open fields yield potatoes, cabbage, and carrots, while sea buckthorn berries are sold for processing, and nursery-raised seedlings feed back into reforestation. A local cooperative now runs the forest and farm operations, employing 10 to 30 residents seasonally. This self-reliant model ensures that the forest isn’t just a gift from abroad, but a living economy owned by the people.
"By settling here and working, I regained my life," says Eotengbat, his voice steady with hard-won dignity. The project’s true success lies not only in trees planted or crops harvested, but in lives restored. As Green Asia shifts toward full local management, the vision is clear: a future where the people of Argalant don’t just survive, but steward their own thriving land.