Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
City population: 1452000
Duration: 2021 – 2022
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Project area: 110000 m2
Type of area: Protected Area
Last updated: March 2023

The Misheel Botanical Garden is a large park located in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, established in 2021 along the Tuul River. The project was carried out by "Misheel Group" LLC in cooperation with public actors and more than 100 customer organisations, within the framework of social and environmental responsibility. The project cost 2.1 billion MNT and covers 110,000 square meters of green space, which was beautified without disturbing the native vegetation. The center aims to maintain and restore the ecological balance of flora and fauna, increase the flow of the Tuul river basin by planting trees each year, and provide citizens with more leisure and recreation opportunities. The botanical garden includes a combination of green-blue infrastructure and offers the opportunity for people to relax and expand their knowledge about a healthy environment. The center features a laboratory for students of natural sciences, a basketball court, a sand volleyball court, leisure areas for the elderly and infants, a dedicated sand area, and access for strollers and people with disabilities. The center also includes a terrace with a view of the Tuul River, where visitors can relax, and host events and activities throughout the year, including the winter. [Source: Information provided by the management team of this project, Ref. 1, 5]

Overview image of the Misheel botanical garden
Overview image of the Misheel botanical garden
Source: Misheel botanical garden

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Blue infrastructure
  • Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
  • Community gardens and allotments
  • Community gardens
  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • Riverbank/Lakeside greens
  • Green playgrounds and school grounds
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Botanical gardens

Key challenges

  • Environmental quality
  • Air quality improvement
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Habitat and biodiversity conservation
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Flood protection
  • Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
  • Preservation of natural heritage
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Enabling opportunities for physical activity
  • Improving mental health
  • Improving physical health
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
  • Effective management
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Social cohesion
  • Social interaction
  • Environmental education

Focus

Maintenance and management of urban nature, Management and improved protection of rivers and other blue areas, Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Knowledge creation and awareness raising, Improved governance of green or blue areas

Project objectives

1. To conserve the ecological balance, maintaining and restoring the number of flora and fauna. 2. To increase the flow of the Tuul river basin, plant trees and create favourable environmental conditions. 3. To increase the number of specially landscaped green facilities for people to relax, walk, and prevent lack of exercise. 4. To establish a plant laboratory to implement practical training and cognitive programs for students of general education schools and students studying natural sciences. 5. To increase the area of green and blue infrastructure in the city. [Ref. 1]

Implementation activities

Key activities included: - Re-planting and restoring the degraded ecosystem - Daily maintenance - Re-naturalization - Organizing and supporting events for knowledge creation and dissemination - Shared space for community gardens - The implementation activities were performed with natural materials so that the construction does not cause any damage to the Tuul river or the local ecosystem. [Ref. 2, 3] During the implementation of the project, more than 5,000 trees and shrubs of 25 types were planted in the spring and autumn of 2021 and 2022. In addition, the following areas were renovated: 935 m2 large beach, 142.5 m2 small beach, 162 m2 sand volleyball court, 252 m2 basketball court, 12 m long wooden bridge, 2950 playground, 741.86 m2 recreation area, 200 m elm grove, 168 m long and 6 m height bridge and 12 m high tower. A total area of ​​5183.3 square meters has been furnished. As a result, the botanical garden now offers opportunities for various outdoor activities: - Leisure area for seniors, - Volleyball and basketball court, - Pond deck, - Three playgrounds for children, - Riverside platform, - Lookout tower, - Sections of newly planted rare plants, - Gardens for community use where people have small areas to plant flowers. - A rest area. [Source: Information provided by the management team of this project, Ref. 5]

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity conservation:

  • Protect and enhance urban habitats
  • Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
  • Promote environmentally-sound development in and around protected areas
  • Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
  • Means for conservation governance
  • Biodiversity offsets
  • Raise public awareness
  • Public engagement
  • Create and use scientific knowledge for conservation
  • Protect and apply traditional knowledge and conservation practices

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
  • Restore native species
  • Public engagement

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
  • Private sector/Corporate/Company
  • Citizens or community groups
  • Young people and children

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality
  • Private sector/corporate actor/company

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
  • Crowd-sourcing/Crowd-funding/Participatory budget
  • Dissemination of information and education
  • Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The garden project is jointly initiated by the Misheel group and the Governor's office of the capital in 2019. The Governor's Office of Ulaanbaatar capital is the owner of the land and it gave special permission for using the land to create the garden. They organized a special event to fundraise to build the garden in 2019 and around 100 companies donated. The garden is located on the southern side of the Misheel commercial complex center. Source: (Information provided by the management team of this project, Ref 3, 4, 5)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Yes (- Vision-2050: Longterm development policy [Ref 9] - Green city action plan for the city of Ulaanbaatar [Ref 10])
... a local policy or strategy? Unknown

Financing

Total cost

€500,000 - €2,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Corporate investment
  • Private Foundation/Trust

Type of funding

  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
  • Donations
  • Membership or entrance fees

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Environmental quality
  • Improved air quality
  • Water management and blue areas
  • Enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems
  • Green space and habitat
  • Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Increased green space area
  • Increase in protected green space areas
  • Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
  • Reduced biodiversity loss
  • Increased protection of threatened species

Economic impacts

  • Increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)
  • Increased property prices
  • Generation of income from NBS

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Improved physical health
  • Improved mental health
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Cultural heritage and sense of place
  • Improvement in people’s connection to nature
  • Increased appreciation for natural spaces
  • Education
  • Increased support for education and scientific research
  • Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
  • Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits

Type of reported impacts

Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1. Javkhlan, G (2022), "Annual report of Misheel botanical garden", Ulaanbaatar, p. 16. (Attached)
2. The Misheel Garden, (2022), "A brief introduction to Misheel botanical garden", Ulaanbaatar, p. 4. (Attached)
3. Unuudur daily news (2022-08-02), "Must beautify the Tuul riverside, like Misheel", available at Source link (Accessed 18-01-2023)
4. GoGo online news (2021-06-12), "Inauguration of the Misheel botanical garden", available at Source link (Accessed 18-01-2023)
5. MonTsaMe national broadcasting (2021-06-12), "Inauguration of the Misheel botanical garden", available at Source link (Accessed 18-01-2023)
6. Kuzevanov et al. (2021): Botanical Gardens of Mongolia, Journal of Bio-sciences, available at: Source link (Accessed 18-01-2023)
7. Misheel City (2022), "Michelle Residence: It's time for us to live differently", available at Source link (Accessed 18-01-2023)
8. Ikon online news (2021-06-13), "Opening ceremony of Micheel botanical garden", available at Source link (Accessed 18-01-2023)
9. “VISION-2050” LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT POLICY OF MONGOLIA, available at Source link (Accessed 18-02-2023)
10. Green City Action Plan for the City of Ulaanbaatar, 2019, Available at Source link (Accessed 19-02-2023)
Vegetation in the Misheel botanical garden
Vegetation in the Misheel botanical garden
Source: Misheel botanical garden
Public activities in the Misheel botanical garden
Public activities in the Misheel botanical garden
Source: Misheel botanical garden
Playground in the Misheel botanical garden
Playground in the Misheel botanical garden
Source: Misheel botanical garden
Cover image of the Misheel botanical garden
Cover image of the Misheel botanical garden
Source: Misheel botanical garden
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the "NBS 2022" UNA Asian extension project funded by the Asia-Europe Foundation.