Hustai National Park (), located in the Khustai Mountains (, lit. ''Birch Mountains'') of Töv Province (Aimag), is a national park of Mongolia. It is also known as Khustain Nuruu National Park. The Tuul River runs through the park.

History

The Mongolian Government declared Hustai National Park as a Specially Protected Area in 1993, one year after the initiation of the reintroduction project of the Takhi ( Przewalski's horse) to the Hustain Nuruu. The HNP extends through the Khentii Mountains and includes the western edge of the Mongolian steppe at the boundaries of Altanbulag,

Argalant Argalant ( mn, Аргалант) is a Sums of Mongolia, sum in Mongolia's Töv Province, just west of Ulaanbaatar. The area is 1210 square kilometres, of which about 160 square kilometres are farmland and 940 square kilometres are pasture. In 2005, ...

and Bayankhangai Soums of Töv Province. The park is about 100 km from the capital city of Ulaanbaatar to the west. The HNP covers 50,600 ha land which is home to 459 species of vascular plants, 85 species of

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

and 33 species of mushrooms. 44 species of mammals have been recorded, including

Altai wapiti The Altai wapiti, sometimes called the Altai elk, is a subspecies of ''Cervus canadensis'' found in the forest hills of southern Siberia, northwestern Mongolia, and northern Xinjiang province of China. It is different from the Tian Shan wapiti in ...

, Mongolian gazelle, roe deer, wild boar, wild sheep, ibex,

Mongolian marmot The tarbagan marmot (''Marmota sibirica'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in China (Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang), northern and western Mongolia, and Russia (southwest Siberia, Tuva, Transbaikalia). In the Mongoli ...

s, grey wolf, Eurasian lynx, Pallas's cat,

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

, corsac fox and Eurasian badger. The 217 species of birds include golden eagle, lammergeier, great bustard, whooper swan, black stork, Daurian partridge and

little owl The little owl (''Athene noctua''), also known as the owl of Athena or owl of Minerva, is a bird that inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, the Palearctic east to Korea, and North Africa. It was introduced into Britain at ...

. There are 16 species of fish, 2 species of

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s, and 385 species of insects (including 21 species of ants, 55 species of

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

, 10 species of bush crickets and 29 species of

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

s). A new species of soil insect has been found in the Hustai and given the scientific name of ''Epidamaeus khustaiensis''. In 2002, the Man and the Biosphere Reserves organization of UNESCO certified the HNP as a member of the world biosphere network of natural reserves. The HNPT was enrolled as a member of

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

in 2007.

Management

Hustai National Park was the first park to be managed by a Non-governmental Organization specializing in nature and environmental conservation. The park was managed by the Mongolian Association for the Conservation of Nature and the Environment during 1993–2003. A dedicated NGO, the Hustai National Park Trust (HNPT), was established in 2003 and signed a contract with the Mongolian Government which delegated the management of the HNP to the new NGO. The HNPT conducts operations in five main activity areas as follows: # Conservation and protection of ecosystems and historical sites in the park. # Reintroduction of the last species of wild horse – the Takhi – and building-up of a sustainable wild population. # Organization of international training courses and research. # Development of ecotourism. # Development of the buffer zone of the HNP. The Trust has around 60 employees, working in five units as follows: # Administration # Training and research # Protection # Tourism # Buffer zone development Since 1993, the HNP has implemented the following international projects, supported by the Dutch Government: # Hustain Nuruu nature reserves, 1993–1997 # Conservation of the biodiversity of the HNP, 1998–2003 # Support to the management of the HNP, 2004–2008 # Development of sustainable livelihoods in the buffer zone of the HNP, 2004–2008 # Adaptation to changing conditions in the HNP and its buffer zone, 2009–2012

Panorama

References

External links

Official Site

Map of Hustai National Park, OpenStreetMap.org
{{Coord, 47, 45, 54, N, 105, 52, 42, E, region:MN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title National parks of Mongolia Protected areas established in 2003