A Conservation Mongolia Initiative
The Gobi Fiber Project
Protecting Mongolia's grasslands through sustainable cashmere practices, women's cooperatives, and fair trade partnerships that keep traditional herding alive.
The Challenge
A Steppe in Crisis
Mongolia's grasslands are disappearing. Since 1990, cashmere goat populations have tripled — from 5 million to over 27 million — driven by global demand for cheap cashmere. Unlike sheep or cattle, goats pull plants up by the roots, destroying the vegetation that holds fragile steppe soil together.
The consequences cascade: degraded pastures force herders to move more frequently, compete for shrinking grasslands, and keep even larger herds to maintain income. Wildlife loses habitat. Climate change accelerates desertification. Traditional nomadic culture becomes unsustainable.
Meanwhile, herders receive just 2–5% of the final retail price for cashmere. They're trapped — needing more animals to survive, while their land collapses beneath them.
Our Approach
Sustainable Cashmere, Thriving Communities
The Gobi Fiber Project works with herding families to prove that smaller, healthier herds can generate more income than the destructive status quo. We're rebuilding the economics of cashmere from the ground up.
Rotational Grazing
Pasture management plans that let grasslands recover. Smaller herds, moved more strategically, prevent overgrazing and restore soil health.
Premium Pricing
Fair trade partnerships targeting 2–3× market rate for sustainably produced fiber. Less volume, more income, better land.
Quality Over Quantity
Hand-combing (not shearing) produces longer, finer fibers worth more per kilogram. Training and tools for traditional techniques.
Women's Cooperatives
Women-led processing cooperatives that add value locally, create jobs, and keep profits in communities.
Empowering Communities
Women Leading the Transition
In traditional Mongolian herding, women handle most fiber processing — cleaning, sorting, and preparing cashmere for sale. The Gobi Fiber Project builds on this expertise by establishing women-led cooperatives that transform raw fiber into higher-value products.
These cooperatives aren't just economic entities — they're community hubs where women share knowledge, support each other through harsh winters, and make collective decisions about sustainable practices.
Our Partners
Meet the Herding Families
The Gobi Fiber Project currently works with 47 herding families across three provinces. Here are some of the families you might meet on our Sustainable Cashmere expedition.
Oyunbileg & Family
Bayankhongor Province
Third-generation herder interested in transitioning to sustainable grazing. With 400 goats, she's exploring herd reduction in exchange for premium fiber pricing — and hopes to lead quality training for neighboring families.
Batbayar & Narantuya
Ömnögovi Province
Retired teachers who returned to herding. Pioneered pasture monitoring using smartphone apps and now mentor younger herders on rotational grazing.
Enkhjargal
Dundgovi Province
University-educated daughter who returned to manage the family cooperative. Handles international buyer relationships and quality certification.
Conservation Connection
When Herds Shrink, Wildlife Returns
Sustainable cashmere isn't just about economics — it's about ecosystem recovery. Overgrazed land can't support the wild ungulates that snow leopards, wolves, and other predators depend on. When pastures heal, wildlife follows.
Our partner herders report more wildlife sightings each year: argali sheep returning to traditional ranges, Mongolian gazelle crossing pastures without competition, and predators following prey into healthier habitat.
The Gobi Fiber Project is conservation in action — proving that human livelihoods and wildlife protection aren't opposites, but partners in a functioning steppe ecosystem.
Get Involved
Support the Gobi Fiber Project
Whether you visit, donate, or spread the word, you're helping protect Mongolia's grasslands and the communities that depend on them.
Join an Expedition
Our 8-day Sustainable Cashmere experience takes you inside the project — living with herder families, learning fiber processing, and seeing conservation economics in action.
View the Expedition →Sponsor a Family
$2,500 sponsors one family's transition to sustainable practices — including training, tools, and first-year premium payments while their herd adjusts.
Learn More →Corporate Partnership
Fashion brands committed to ethical sourcing can partner directly with our cooperatives for traceable, certified sustainable Mongolian cashmere.
Contact Us →See It For Yourself
The best way to understand the Gobi Fiber Project is to visit. Spend a week with the families, learn to comb cashmere, and witness the steppe recovering.