The Economic Value of the Upper Tuul Ecosystem, Mongolia, September 22, 2009
[Source: The World Bank - Mongolia]. Study finds that the land and resources of the Upper Tuul currently contribute income and marketed products worth around Tug 28 billion a year in tourism, herding and forest-based sectors. Meanwhile, the current value of water use in Ulaanbaatar is estimated to be worth Tug 90 billion a year at the very minimum. 

Conservation of the two protected areas that cover most of the upper watershed of the Tuul River, Gorhki-Terelj National
Park and Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area, has a high economic value because it helps to safeguard downstream
water supplies to Ulaanbaatar. Overall, improved. Conservation of the Upper Tuul ecosystem is estimated by the study to be worth some Tug 1,370 billion in Present Value terms, through the provision of water, tourism, herding and forest products.

In contrast, continuing ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss will prove extremely costly in terms of water and other services lost. Even taking into account the costs of the additional protected area budgets and the losses in value that would be required to bring land and resource uses to ecologically sustainable levels, conservation would give rise to substantial economic gains over a situation where the ecosystem is further degraded.

Conservation is estimated to generate an additional Tug 76 billion Net Present Value over 25 years as compared to
continuing gradual degradation of the watershed, and Tug 125 billion over and above a situation of no protection. As
compared to the current situation, the study findings suggest that every Tug 1 invested in the conservation of the Upper Tuul ecosystem has the potential to generate an additional Tug 15 in water, land and resource use benefits over the next
25 years.

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