Ecological Culture of Inner Asian Nomads: Past, Present and Future

This article reveals specific features of the ecological culture of Inner Asian nomads and reasons of the contemporary environmental crisis, which lies in the departure from the traditional relations between man and nature. The authors try to understand the changes in ecological culture of nomads, and explain that resorting to the historical experience of traditional cultures is also necessary in order to tackle the problem of the greatest possible adaptation of ethnic culture of each nation to modern highly urbanized civilization. The research work was conducted on basis of the statistical data and periodicals, results of longterm field research of the Buryat Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Ecological Culture of Inner Asian Nomads:

Past, Present and Future

1)Marina Baldano*, Boris Bazarov**, Hong-Jin Kim***

Abstract

This article reveals specific features of the ecological culture of Inner Asian nomads and reasons of the contemporary environmental crisis, which lies in the departure from the traditional relations between man and nature The authors try to understand the changes in ecological culture of nomads, and explain that resorting to the historical experience of traditional cultures is also necessary in order to tackle the problem of the greatest possible adaptation of ethnic culture of each nation to modern highly urbanized civilization The research work was conducted on basis

of the statistical data and periodicals, results of long-term field research of the Buryat Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Key words: ecological culture, inner Asia, nomadism, Mongolia, transboundary

environmental issue

* The first author, Professor of History at the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Ude, Russia.

** The correspondent author, Director of the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies and Academician of RAS, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy

of Sciences, Ulan-Ude, Russia.

*** The correspondent author, Professor at the Department of Economics and Finance, Soonchunhyang University, Korea

This study was supported by the research fund of Soonchunhyang University The authors appreciate the commenters for their valuable comments However, the authors are still responsible for the remained problems, if any.

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1 Introduction

2 Forming and Development of Inner Asian Nomads Culture

3 Present Issues of Ecological Culture of Inner Asian Nomads

4 Ecological Perspectives in Inner Asia

5 Summary and Conclusion

1 Introduction

It stands to reason that in the contemporary globalizing world there is not a single political, economic, social or environmental problem, which concerns one particular state Any internal crisis of a state inevitably affects neighboring countries and peoples, becoming their crisis too, and carrying serious consequences Likewise, any economic, social or political crisis is directly connected with ecology In such situation, it is very urgent to strengthen the international cooperation and search for the ways to solve a number of critical environmental issues, such as the creation of specially protected natural reservations, conservation of water basins, and ecological culture training for population of transboundary environmental regions

Inner Asia is an important hub of historical processes, a crossroads of global cultural trends, shared fatherland and residence and a factor uniting many nations This territory was once a single historical and cultural space and a part

of nomadic civilization Nowadays it embraces territories of three states with various economic and social structures: Buryatia in Russia, Mongolia, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China Despite of common prospects of transformation process, each country has its own way of development, since a combination of factors and circumstances in such a complex process is always unique At the same time, social and cultural peculiarities of the Mongolian ethnos are preserved in the region and the whole territory itself is characterized

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by geopolitical and geo-economic interdependence

Extreme climatic conditions of this region created a fragile environmental balance between man, society and nature Therefore, unlike sedentary people from other regions a nomad had to search for a more balanced approach to nature This approach was formed not for mere exploitation of the environment, but for harmonious interaction with it as an equal partner Nomadic lifestyle allowed using natural resources and creating a distinct culture based on environmental ideology as well as ethnic, confessional and sociocultural traditions of various nations

History shows that the activity of large human entities, ethno-political unions

or super-ethnos lead to emergence of critical environmental situations This region witnessed many attempts to create powerful super-ethnic states on enormous expanses They played a great role in overcoming cultural, ethnic and confessional differences of nations, tribes and ethnic groups Interaction of numerous ethnic substrates and their ecological traditions undoubtedly contributed not only to their enrichment and synthesis, but also evolution from lower to higher forms and, consequently, development and enhancement of the whole ecological culture of Inner Asian peoples The created type of ecological culture, which functioned as a specific number of norms and stereotypes of environmental thinking and behavior, played a role of a highly efficient regulator of interactions between man and nature

2 Forming and Development of Inner Asian Nomads Culture

Ideology of the traditional use of wild nature originated from heathen beliefs Environmental ideas of ancient dwellers of this region were reflected in a system of archaic beliefs and cults (such as land, water and tree cults, etc.) often borrowed by Shamanism, which manifested a new stage of ecological culture of

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the people Nomads did not distinguish themselves from the economic activity that ensured harmonious coexistence of society and nature In the inner structure of the Shamanistic religious and cultural complex, the environmental layer represents an inseparable typological peculiarity of Shamanism.1)

Many Buddhist rituals associated with veneration of nature were borrowed from Shamanism For instance, a female image of the Earth cult amalgamated with female images of the Buddhist pantheon The tree cult, in which trees were believed to be dwellings of guardian spirits, symbols of evolvement of life, as well as cults of “inanimate” objects and natural phenomena, such as the cult of stones, evolved further In Tibetan medical sources insults to spirits of water, land, trees, stones and hearth were listed among numerous causes of diseases.2)Inner Asia is a zone of adverse natural and climatic conditions Winds, floods, draughts, and early frosts carry catastrophic consequences for agriculture Many traditional beliefs and cults are still very much alive among the Mongolian peoples Field ethnographic studies show that such mass

worships as Shamanist taylagan and Buddhist obo tahilga addressed to

“masters of land and water” requesting rain, moisture and wellbeing from guardian deities are practiced in dry off-years The ancient cult of “land and water” is extremely important, as is the cult of the “master of the locality” Traditional beliefs, folk art, songs, dances and applied art of the Mongolian peoples are in many ways connected with recognition and venerations of nature It is a source of inspiration, which determines elements of spiritual creativity

One of the highest stages of ecological culture development in the region is, undoubtedly, a system of environmental traditions It is the result of a synthesis

of Tibetan Buddhism and traditional beliefs and cults, rituals and habits of the

1) Not surprisingly, many specialists define Shamanism as a “natural” religion.

2) Abaeva Lyubov (2004), p 405.

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Mongolian peoples Buddhism introduced high religion and culture in the region integrating and assimilating them with the indigenous beliefs and traditions, reaching a harmonious combination of Buddhist and non-Buddhist elements In the final analysis this led to the formation of a practically homogeneous and stable form of environmental conscience in the region.3) The type of environmental conscience and behavior encoded in the ecological culture of Inner Asia was realized as a traditionally stable stereotype passed from father to son over many centuries A continuity of environmental tradition

is traceable in the historical material, from early archeological culture to contemporaneity

Transition of Buryats from the Mongolian world to Russia in the 17th century definitely resulted in certain changes of behavioral stereotypes In this period the Buryats entered a decisive stage of ethno-genesis accompanied by unification of previously isolated tribes Before incorporation of Buryatia into Russia one could talk about the interconnection and interdependence of nature and ethnos In the course of the historical process accompanied by migrations, demographic and cultural changes, the population structure of Buryatia became poly-ethnic

In poly-ethnic society, ethnos and ethnic groups retained their identity The use of nature as an economic base by the Buryats demonstrated its efficiency and ecological expediency According to the concept of revolutionary changes

of nature, the system of traditional attitude to the environment started changing only from the second third of the 20th century

During the collectivization years the Buryat traditional economy was almost totally destroyed By the late 1950s Mongolia faced the same trouble, albeit in a somewhat milder form Urbanization processes were rapidly destroying

3) Baldano Marina (2004), p 7-12.

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traditional lifestyles that formed over centuries Urban growth was specifically intensive in the 1950s to 1960s In this period new urban dwellers became

marginalized by losing ties with the countryside (khudon) from whence they

came At the same time, their high degree of adaptability to natural conditions disappeared; their environmental conscience underwent negative transformations and attitudes to nature changed under the influence of militant technocracy In other words their conscience was changed and a new type of behavior was established The ideas of careful preservation and restoration of nature ceased to be dominant At the same time people in the cities who were getting actively adapted to industrial production and urban lifestyles scarcely perceived spiritual values of a city, civilization and culture New townspeople for a long time remained marginal with mixed rural-urban conscience This factor seems to be the main obstacle on the way toward creation of a unified society with developed ecological culture

3 Present Issues of Ecological Culture of Inner Asian Nomads

The cause of the contemporary environmental crisis lies in the system of values that brings to the forefront consumerism and perception of nature as a source of human needs satisfaction This characterizes the situation in the Inner Asian region where Mongolia, its geographical center, borders on two countries with enormous resources On the one side lies Russia with its vast territories and rich natural resources On the other side there is China with one of the most powerful economies in the world and huge human resources, which ensure continuous economic growth

The country that occupies an important strategic position in Inner Asia turned into an arena of open and clandestine political and economic rivalry among Russia, China, USA, Japan, the European Union, Great Britain, Canada,

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South Korea and other countries Economic sectors based on the use of natural resources are the main sources of present and future development of the Mongolian economy Human activity is a significant factor of environmental degradation as it entails exhaustion of soils, deforestation and extraction of mineral resources Desertification of land result in negative changes in the environment creating extreme conditions for the living

Coal mining and coal export to China are carried out on a large scale, including the increasing illegal mining, wasteful with high environmental costs The level of development and new technologies of the industry does not allow exporting end products competitive on Asian and global markets.4) Obviously, the primary beneficiaries of the “green” technological revolution are the richest countries of the world able to direct huge state subsidies to support their hi-tech companies These companies later become global leaders in the field of energy engineering, engine production, development of new materials and so on They conquer markets in the developing countries cutting off their opportunities to entrench themselves in new prospective economic sectors At the same time the Third World countries cannot export their traditional goods manufactured with obsolete technologies to Europe The European market is protected by a soft, but solid curtain of environmental certification.5)

Nowadays China determines the character of the socioeconomic situation in Mongolia According to Mongolian sources in 1990-2010 direct Chinese investments into Mongolian economy reached 1.8 billion US dollars or almost 55% of all foreign direct investment Over these twenty years more than 5300 partially Chinese enterprises and businesses were launched in Mongolia This amounts to almost 50% of all businesses with foreign ownership in the country.6) The majority of these companies are involved in mining, which

4) Aktamov Innokentiy (2011), p 99

5) Novikov Sergey (2010) The Green Comfort In Russian, Expert 2010 № 1 (735).

to cities, particularly, the capital city of Ulaanbaatar Over the last two decades the population of Ulaanbaatar grew from 700,000 to 1,500,000 people A huge slum consisting of yurts and private single-family homes, which use any flammable material (including construction waste, PET and auto tires) for heating formed around the metropolitan area A situation close to environmental disaster formed because of air pollution with combustion products in wintertime Undoubtedly, this is a complex problem that has a socioeconomic basis: rapid urban population growth occurs due to the influx of deprived rural dwellers forced to surround the city with their yurts At the same time, the problem has already affected the interests of the middle class and elites since it is impossible to divide airspace into the air for the rich and air for the poor Ulaanbaatar is rapidly developing, but life there is becoming more difficult even in elite housing The environmental situation has already turned into the political issue The stability of state authorities depends on the solution

6) Baatar Tsend (2012), pp 145-148.

7) SO RAN – MAN: Dynamism of Cooperation In Russian (2010), Science in Siberia №

41 (2776) October, 14

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a countrywide environmental catastrophe, since the age-old balance between human economic activity and Mongolia’s fragile natural environment with a unique intertwining of the southernmost boundaries of permafrost and northernmost borders of desert is irretrievably lost As a result, Mongolia turns from a blossoming nook of the planet where life of happy nomadic is painted in bucolic colors into a very uncomfortable place for normal life of not only nomads, but also farmers Even the townspeople will not be comfortable amidst dust storms and sharp changes of temperature”.8) Problems of Mongolia’s environmental security are in the spotlight of public and governmental attention not only in Mongolia, but also in the neighboring states, primarily Russia.The National Security Concept of Mongolia defines environmental security

in Article 10, clause 52 It is understood as provision of conditions for prevention of negative impacts on human environment and economy as a result

of environmental and climatic changes, unsustainable use and insufficient protection of natural resources Besides, the document lists internal and external factors, which may affect environmental security as well as a number of measures that Mongolia must undertake in order to ensure its security in the field of ecology About 20 NGOs emerged in almost all river basins where mining activity is underway The number of participants in some campaigns amounts to 8000 people In April 2011, mounted Mongolian cattle herders occupied the main square of the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, the Sukhbator Square, demanding to stop the destruction of steppes and rivers by mining

It is well known that the Mongolian leadership actively promotes the policy

of development of mineral resources in the southern part of the country It is oriented toward export of raw materials to China and Western countries The largest mining objects are coal deposit Tavan-Tolgoi and copper and gold

8) Zheleznyakov Alexander (2014) Mongolia in Search of Identity in the Modern Era and

its Civilizational Interaction with Russia

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deposit Oyu-Tolgoi For the attainment of projected capacity huge amounts of water and electricity are required Both are in short supply for the whole Mongolian economy That is why there are plans to build a chain of hydroelectric power stations on the Orkhon River (the main tributary of the Selenga River in the Mongolian territory) and the Kerulen River (a tributary of Lake Dalaynor in China), and construct several reservoirs to divert the runoff to the Southern Gobi Taking into account the fact that the Selenga brings a half of annual runoff to Lake Baikal, it is possible to assume that the diversion of a part

of runoff and a sharp increase of water expenditure due to evaporation and groundwater seepage will reduce the volume of water delivered to Lake Baikal The extremely high manmade impact on Lake Baikal is one of the critical environmental issues not only in Russia, but in the entire world According to Buryat environmentalists, construction of just one Shuren HPP on the Selenga River may become catastrophic for the ecosystem of Lake Baikal However, at the last year’s meeting with the government of the Republic of Buryatia, Tsend Badrakh, Head of the National Water Committee of Mongolia reassured, “We will take measures to prevent damage to water resources of Russia, the Selenga River and Lake Baikal in particular”.9) On June 20, 2014 at the 38th UNESCO session in Qatar, the World Heritage Committee advanced a claim against Mongolia due to possible construction of an HPP on the Selenga River.10)

On the one hand it is clear that Mongolia experiences a severe shortage of water resources On the other hand, the Mongolian government’s assuredness that no catastrophe will ensue is striking It is appropriate to provide an example when due to calculation error the Zavkhan River was almost totally shut off delivering much less water than was needed by the local cattle herders

9) Badrakh Tsend (2014), pp 22-24.

10) Badmaev Vladimir (2014), UNESCO against the HPP on the Selenga In Russian, (date

of access: 21.05.2016).

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The territory became more arid than before the construction of the HPP, and as

a result, a lot of cattle died Some cattle breeders deprived of sustenance became devout opponents of such experiments on Mother Nature and nowadays they protest against construction of hydropower plants on the Selenga and Orkhon Rivers

Relationships between Russia and Mongolia, providing mutual national interests in the field of protection and management of transboundary waters are built on the principles of pragmatism of each party In its relations with Mongolia the Russian Federation tries to act as a “soft leader” taking into account economic and political factors since such interaction with Mongolia has not only environmental, but also political significance in the expansion of Russian influence in the Asia-Pacific region.11) It is also important that such interaction to great extent ensures Russia’s international status of the guarantor

of preservation of the unique ecosystem of Lake Baikal

In our view, joint activities, such as recent Russian-Mongolian expedition on sanitation and epidemiological monitoring of transboundary waters in the territory of Buryatia and Mongolia have special significance Its organizers were the Directorate of the Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare in the Republic of Buryatia and Buryat “Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology” with participation of the East Siberian Scientific Center for Human Ecology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (Angarsk) and funded by the GEF and UNDP project “Integrated Natural Resource Management in the Transboundary Ecosystem of the Baikal Basin.” In September the Baikal Educational Forum of Environmentalist Activists is scheduled to start.12)

11) Tsyrenova Tatyana (2011), p 11.

12) Ecology (2014), ecoindustry.ru, 19 July, 2014, № 1104509 (date of access:

05.07.2016).

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For Mongolia the problem of distribution and joint management of transboundary waters in the condition of limited water resources touches vitally important sectors of national economy On the one hand, interaction with Russia allows taking into account positive Russian experience in scientific and educational spheres in the protection and management of water resources On the other hand, it guarantees respect to national interests of Mongolia in terms

of preservation of its sovereignty in the conditions of a multi-vectored foreign policy, in which one of the main actors is neighboring China

In Russia a whole series of scientific documents regulating socioeconomic development of the frontier Baikal region were developed First and foremost, it

is the “Territorial Integrated Scheme of the Protection of Nature of the Baikal Basin” Its main contents is a program of sustainable nature management and environmental-town planning development of the region, ensuring the temporally unlimited conservation and reproduction of the unique ecosystem and gene bank of Lake Baikal and the adjacent water catchment area, as well as permanence of hydro-chemical and hydro-biological composition of the lake’s waters Since 2009 the implementation of the already mentioned GEF/UNDP program “Cooperation to Reduce Impacts of Persistent Toxic Substances and Organic Pollutants through Integrated Management of the Baikal Basin” commenced

Despite all this, however, the unique water body sustains irreversible damage each day due to large scale placer gold development in the central districts of Mongolia that resulted in the change of landscape and watercourse of many tributaries of the Selenga River River waters are contaminated by mining wastes Out of 350 large mining companies working in Mongolia, 280 specialize in placer gold development Reclamation works are practically absent

in 97% of territories under gold mining Only in the Tuul River valley 4500 hectares of land are damaged Russian and Mongolian scientific studies showed