Why We Exist
Conservation Through Connection
We believe the future of Mongolia's wildlife depends on building bridges — between researchers and funding, between travelers and purpose, between local communities and the global conservation movement.
Our Story
Born in the Gobi
Conservation Mongolia began not as a business plan, but as a realisation in the field. As Mongolian researchers and international scientists with 25 years of combined conservation work across Mongolia — tracking wild camels through sand dunes, monitoring snow leopards on frozen ridgelines, documenting plant knowledge with nomadic herders — we kept encountering the same problem.
Brilliant researchers doing essential work, perpetually scrambling for funding. Grant cycles that didn't match field seasons. Conservation programs that couldn't plan beyond the next budget year. And meanwhile, travelers arriving in Mongolia hungry for meaningful experiences, often leaving without ever connecting to the science happening around them.
It was through working alongside people like Dr. Adiya Yadamsuren — who has spent over 15 years tracking and protecting critically endangered wild camels across the Great Gobi Special Protected Area — that the idea took shape. Adiya's tireless fieldwork with the Wild Camel Protection Foundation, from managing the captive breeding centre at Zakhyn Us to conducting population surveys deep in the desert, showed us what dedicated conservation looks like on the ground — and how precarious its funding can be.
We started asking: what if we could solve both problems at once? What if expedition tourism could become a reliable funding mechanism for conservation — while giving travellers unforgettable, high-end experiences they couldn't find anywhere else?
What Guides Us
Mission, Vision & Purpose
Our Mission
To create expedition experiences that directly fund conservation research, connect travelers with working scientists, and demonstrate that tourism can be a force for environmental protection.
Our Vision
A Mongolia where flagship species thrive, where conservation science is sustainably funded, and where local communities benefit directly from protecting the landscapes they've stewarded for generations.
Our Purpose
To prove a new model — that well-designed expedition tourism can generate more conservation value than traditional approaches, creating lasting relationships between people and the wild places they help protect.
Our Conservation Pledge
- A minimum of $500 per guest will go directly to species-specific conservation programs — not a generic fund, but targeted support for the research you participate in.
- We will publish annual impact reports showing exactly where every conservation dollar went and what it accomplished.
- We will never visit research sites without explicit permission and coordination with the scientists working there.
- We will limit group sizes to minimize disturbance and maximize meaningful participation.
- We will prioritize local hiring — our guides, drivers, and camp staff are Mongolian, keeping expedition revenue in local communities.
- We are exploring carbon offset partnerships with Mongolian grassland restoration projects.
- We will refuse partnerships with any operator whose practices conflict with conservation goals.
Why This Matters
The Conservation Crisis
Mongolia is one of the last places on Earth where vast landscapes remain relatively intact — but that window is closing fast. The species we work to protect face mounting pressures from climate change, development, and illegal wildlife trade.
Local Challenge
Climate-Driven Habitat Loss
Mongolia is warming faster than almost anywhere on Earth. Gobi water sources are drying up. Snow leopard habitat is shifting upward. Traditional grazing patterns are breaking down as dzud (harsh winters) and drought become more frequent.
Local Challenge
Mining & Infrastructure
Massive mining operations are fragmenting critical wildlife corridors. New roads bisect migration routes. The economic pressure to develop is immense — conservation must demonstrate its own economic value to compete.
Global Challenge
Illegal Wildlife Trade
Demand from international markets drives poaching of snow leopards, saiga antelope, and raptors. Mongolia's vast borders are nearly impossible to patrol. Species are being lost faster than they can be protected.
Global Challenge
Conservation Funding Gap
Global conservation funding falls billions of dollars short of what's needed. Mongolia receives a fraction of what African parks get, despite hosting equally important biodiversity. Researchers compete for scraps while species disappear.
Local Challenge
Human-Wildlife Conflict
As traditional livelihoods become harder, herders sometimes see predators as threats rather than neighbors. Snow leopards and wolves are killed in retaliation for livestock losses. Conservation must work for communities, not against them.
Global Challenge
Disconnection from Nature
People protect what they love, but fewer people have direct experiences with wild places and wild animals. Conservation loses when wildlife becomes an abstraction rather than something people have witnessed firsthand.
The Case for Conservation Tourism
Why Tourism Matters
Done poorly, tourism damages the places it visits. Done well, it becomes one of the most powerful tools conservation has. Here's why we believe expedition tourism — specifically, science-based expedition tourism — can make a genuine difference.
Sustainable, Unrestricted Funding
Unlike grants with rigid requirements and reporting burdens, tourism revenue is flexible. Researchers can direct it where it's most needed — emergency response, equipment replacement, community liaison work that funders don't cover.
Economic Value for Wildlife
When a snow leopard is worth more alive than dead — when its presence brings tourist dollars to local communities — the calculation changes. Tourism creates economic incentives for protection that enforcement alone can never achieve.
Citizen Science Contribution
Trained guests checking camera traps, recording observations, assisting with surveys — they're not just observers, they're contributing to actual data collection. Extra hands in the field, properly supervised, accelerate research.
Ambassador Creation
Every guest who sees a wild snow leopard, who meets the researchers fighting to protect them, becomes a voice for conservation. They donate, they advocate, they tell stories. Personal experience creates lasting commitment.
Local Community Benefit
Our expeditions employ local guides, drivers, and camp staff. We stay in family-run ger camps. We purchase supplies locally. Conservation that excludes communities fails; tourism that includes them succeeds.
Visibility & Attention
Media coverage, social sharing, word of mouth — tourism brings attention to species and places that might otherwise be ignored. Attention attracts funding, policy interest, and public support.
Academic Impact
From Expedition to Publication
Every expedition funds a specific, named research project. We do not write vague claims about "supporting conservation." We name the researcher, the institution, the research question, and the expected output.
We Identify the Gap
Working with Mongolian universities and international partners, we identify specific unanswered research questions where expedition tourism can provide both funding and field assistance. Every project addresses a real gap in the published science.
We Fund a Student
Guest contributions fund graduate student fieldwork — stipends, equipment, lab fees, travel. Most projects support Masters or PhD students at the National University of Mongolia or partner institutions like the University of Kent, Wageningen University, and the University of Helsinki.
Guests Assist in the Field
Expedition guests help with data collection — servicing camera traps, counting animals on transects, recording habitat data, measuring vegetation plots. All work follows standardised protocols under researcher supervision. Participation is always optional.
Research Produces Outputs
Each project has defined deliverables: peer-reviewed papers, Masters and PhD theses, technical reports, illustrated field guides, or conservation management plans. We track and report on every output.
Guests Stay Connected
You receive updates as your funded research progresses — when the paper is submitted, when the thesis is defended, when the conservation plan is adopted. You are part of the story from field to publication.
Transparency
How We Stay Accountable
We know that "conservation tourism" has sometimes been more marketing than substance. We hold ourselves to a higher standard — and we invite you to hold us accountable.
Annual Impact Reports: Every year, we publish detailed breakdowns of conservation contributions — which researchers received funding, what projects it supported, what outcomes were achieved. No vague claims, just data.
Partner Verification: Every research partner we work with is vetted for scientific credibility and conservation impact. We don't invent affiliations or exaggerate relationships.
Guest Feedback: After every expedition, we survey guests about their experience and the conservation value they perceived. We share results openly and adjust based on feedback.
Independent Review: We're working toward third-party certification of our conservation claims. In the meantime, we welcome scrutiny from journalists, researchers, and anyone who wants to verify our impact.
Join the Mission
Every expedition is an opportunity to participate in something larger than yourself. See the wildlife, meet the scientists, contribute to the research.
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