CHOYR, MONGOLIA – When Mongolian herder Ganchimeg’s sheep strayed dangerously near a salt lake this summer, driven by hunger as nearby vegetation was poor, she was in a “total panic.” “If they drank or stepped into it, the whole flock would be destroyed,” she said outside her traditional ger, the tent’s shape silhouetted on the vast horizon of the Gobi Desert. But thanks to an app helping herders navigate the risks that climate change is bringing to Mongolia, her husband was able to reach the sheep before they drank the brackish water. Huge and sparsely populated, Mongolia is disproportionately affected by human-driven climate change, threatening the country’s nomadic population and livestock.
Bilgudei Gankhulug, the 26-year-old founder of the Hunu app used by Ganchimeg, said he was inspired to help herders after a 2024 dzud — an extreme weather event that brought temperatures as low as minus 45 degrees Celsius. I saw a lot of herders losing their income, losing their livelihoods in just the span of a few months,” said Bilgudei. Meaning “strong nomad,” the name Hunu “embodies our mission of empowering nomadic herders with the help of technology,” he said.
The app allows nomads to track their livestock with a solar-charging GPS device attached to one animal per group — sufficient for herds that tend to stick together on the spacious steppe. It has an artificial intelligence-powered weather feature with updates on the deadly dust storms and blizzards made more common in recent years by climate change, which scientists say is intensifying globally. The app also compiles useful information on maps showing snow depth, wind direction, soil moisture and drought, assisting nomads in crucial decisions on where to move next.
Mongolia hosted talks on a global desertification treaty, known as COP17, last month. Countries agreed on financing for land restoration and tackling drought resilience, but concerns remain over a massive funding shortfall to the growing problem. Bilgudei said he hopes to expand Hunu to central Asian countries, and met with pastoralists from Tanzania and Uruguay at COP17 interested too.
About 80% of Mongolia is rangelands, large tracts of unfarmed land covered by native grasses and shrubs, according to Chimeddorj Buyanaa, Mongolia conservation director at the World Wildlife Fund. Compounding the issue of climate change is rampant overgrazing that also endangers the region’s wildlife, including snow leopards and saiga antelope, Chimeddorj said. Around one in four Mongolians are nomadic herders.
Nearly 82% of the country’s territory is affected by desertification and land degradation, authorities said in August. Many herder families have simply decided to pack up and seek new lives in the city. The worsening climate is a major problem for the province — three-fifths of its economy depends on livestock husbandry, Munkhchuluun said — but consequences are felt further afield.
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