The Partnership for Biodiversity is building the capacity of Lake Hovsgol National Park staff to better manage the natural resources of the Park, enhance the visitor experience by improving the interpretation program, increase local people involvement in park decisions and park-related income generation, and improve staff resources by establishing a visitor fee program. The Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, through a cooperative agreement with the Partnership, is assisting the Mongolian government in developing scientific information needed for sound land use decisions within the Park. The team worked directly with the director and staff of Lake Hovsgol National Park for the duration of the project season ending in October, 1999. The project team revised and improved the existing water quality monitoring program for the Lake and its tributary streams earlier developed by park staff. The project developed improved guidelines for the collection of water samples and their analysis, trained park staff in the use of instruments, prepared standard operating procedures, and quality analysis and quality control procedures for the new collection protocol.
Data collected are fully compatible with the older program.
The new method and program improve the water quality monitoring by increasing the number of sites studied and improves the quality of the information collected. Water quality will be considered in future land use planning efforts. The project team worked with Park management on a number of important Park management initiatives, including installing radio communications in the Park, establishing baseline GIS maps for the Park for land use analysis, and holding a park managers seminar on a variety of park management issues. The project has in place contracts for both the GIS maps and the radio communications. The project team worked with Park staff on a new interpretive program for the Park, which will include field guides to the flora and fauna of the Park, and a Park visitor s guide, both for resale in the Park visitor center.