On 5 February 2026, the Gobi Biodiversity Research Institute was officially inaugurated in Mongolia to study and protect the ecosystems of the country’s southern region.
The Institute will serve as a national center for Gobi ecosystem research and provide science-based data to inform policymaking. Its activities will include biodiversity monitoring, wildlife population studies, ecosystem resilience and land-use assessments, and analysis of mining impacts. The Institute will also develop policy recommendations based on its data.
Experts note that the Gobi region plays a critical role in ecological stability not only for Mongolia but for Central Asia and is an important area for international research on climate change and desertification.
Notably, the Institute begins its work ahead of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (COP17), which will be held in Ulaanbaatar in August 2026.
