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About Green Shield Mongolia

THE PROBLEM

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Severe Land Degradation

79% of Mongolia’s land is degraded, fueling desertification, biodiversity loss, water stress, and cross-border sandstorms

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Weak Transparency & Funding Gaps

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Low Survival Rates

shi shi

OUR TEAM

A passionate and highly skilled team driving sustainable forestry and green finance across Mongolia.

Products

Greenshield.mn - Mongolia’s first ECO-Donation platform

Transparent tree-planting donations with GPS tracking, photo updates, and survival reports

Recognition & Certification

Digital & physical badges starting at 10 trees, evolving into a tiered system tied to restoration

Engagement & Gifts

E-certificates, school packs, and community campaigns for classrooms, corporations, diaspora, and grassroots

SCALABILITY

292 million seedlings

1,100 FUGs can deliver care on the ground.

Thanks to the initial momentum of the Billion Tree National Movement nationwide nursery/seed pipeline scales to tens–hundreds of millions of seedlings.

Massive seed & seedling capacity to feed growth.

Mongolia has built up seed reserves of 12.1 tons across 39 species, enough to produce about 292 million seedlings. That is the raw material for multi-year scale, not just one season.

A bigger nursery network with real inventory today.

The number of registered growers/nurseries has risen 5–6× vs. pre-program years, growing to 452 organizations.

IMPACT

Environmental
Social and Community
Funding

  • Climate – carbon sequestration toward 2030 and 2050 targets.

  • Land – reduced sand-dust storms, soil erosion, and desertification.

  • Water – restored riparian buffers and healthier watersheds.

  • All plantings are registered in the terbummod.mn system under the Billion Trees Movement, ensuring our work fits into national restoration priorities.

  • Mongolia has approximately 1,100 Forest User Groups (FUGs) across the country. By contracting them for multi-year stewardship, we can expand quickly while creating 500 of rural jobs per 10,000 hectares planted.

  • The GreenShield.mn platform can host unlimited sites and projects, from urban greening to Gobi saxaul restoration.

  • Beyond individual donors, our model can absorb corporate CSR/ESG budgets, international donor funds, and carbon finance once credits are certified.

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How It Works

Step 01
Choose
Pick a product that matches your goals — from one tree to a corporate grove
Step 02
Plant
Our teams plant at a GIS-verified, high-suitability site with native species
Step 03
Care
FUG stewards water, fence and infill for 3 years — paid on survival milestones
Step 04
Proof
GPS pins, photo updates and Y1/Y2/Y3 audit reports confirm your trees are alive
🇰🇷 🇯🇵 🇨🇳
Mongolia’s Gobi desert sends dust storms across East Asia — hitting Korea, Japan & China every spring. Green Shield creates a living Anti-Dust Belt by planting trees where they survive.
79% of Mongolia’s land degraded
+2.25°C warming in 80 years
<50%
Tree survival rate in Mongolia today
79%
Of Mongolia’s land is degraded
+2.25°C
Warming over 80 years
1,100+
Forest User Groups on the ground
292M
Seedlings in Mongolia’s nursery pipeline

Why Most Tree Planting Fails — And What We Do Differently

Mongolia’s dust storms reach Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing within hours. 330,000 trees planted in Kharkhorum died without care. The problem isn’t ambition — it’s execution.

📍
Wrong Sites
Trees planted where soil, water & climate don’t support survival. GIS siting is skipped entirely.
🚱
No After-Care
Seedlings need watering, fencing & infill for 3+ years. Most programs end at planting day.
🔍
No Audits
No GPS records, no survival counts, no photo evidence. Donors never know what happened.
🗺️Data-led siting — GIS + field checks first
🌱Native species matched to micro-site
🤝FUG 3-year care — watering, fencing, infill
✅Y1–Y3 survival audits — ≥70% target

The Supply Is Ready. The Window Is Now.

Thanks to Mongolia’s Billion Tree National Movement, the infrastructure to scale is already in place. Green Shield is the verified demand channel that puts it to work.

🌱
292M
Seedlings in Pipeline
12.1 tons of seed reserves across 39 species — raw material for multi-year scale, not just one season.
🏡
452
Nursery Organisations
5–6× growth vs. pre-program years. 63M seedlings ready now, target of 100M near-term.
🤝
1,100+
Forest User Groups
Community-based FUGs trained to deliver multi-year stewardship on the ground across Mongolia.
📍
3
Flagship Sites Ready
Selbe, Gachuurt and Mandal — validated high-suitability sites with permits in progress.
MoUs & Partners in Place
National Forest Agency (NFA) • Mongolian Nature Foundation (MNFA) • Business Council of Mongolia (BCM)

Our Methodology

Survival-first restoration built on data, community stewardship, and transparent verification. Every step is designed so trees actually live.

1

Data-Led Siting

Before a single seedling leaves the nursery, we run GIS analysis on soil type, precipitation, slope, frost patterns and land tenure. We overlay Mongolia’s suitability map to identify high-suitability zones. Field teams verify on the ground, marking micro-sites with GPS coordinates.

🗺️ GIS Analysis + Field Verification
2

Native Species & Micro-Site Match

We plant only species native to each site’s ecological zone — larch and pine for Selenge forest belts, willow and poplar for riparian corridors, saxaul only in Gobi zones where ecologically appropriate. Species are matched to water availability, soil composition and climate zone.

🌳 Site-Matched Native Species Only
3

FUG-Led Multi-Year Care

Our ~1,100 Forest User Group (FUG) partners provide stewardship for 3 years after planting: watering, fencing, infill planting, and protection patrols. FUGs are paid on a milestone basis — 60% at verified planting, 25% after the first care checkpoint, 15% after Year 1 audit.

🤝 ~1,100 FUGs, Milestone-Based Payment
4

Transparent MRV — GPS, Photos, Annual Audits

We target a minimum 70% survival rate at Year 3. Every site is recorded with GPS coordinates and photo points at baseline, Y1, Y2 and Y3. Survival counts are conducted by independent auditors. Donors receive annual reports with real proof, not just a certificate.

✅ ≥70% Survival Target • Y1/Y2/Y3 Audits Published
5

Carbon Standard Compliance (Verra VCS VM0047)

The project operates under Verra VCS VM0047 for Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation. Credits are verified every 5 years by an accredited VVB. For donors requiring formal carbon accounting, ITMOs are available at $46.11/tonne CO₂e through bilateral sovereign agreements.

🌍 Verra VCS VM0047 • ITMO-Ready

📊 What Donors Receive

📍
GPS PinsExact location on a map
📸
Photo Time-SeriesBaseline → Y1 → Y2 → Y3
📊
Survival ReportsAnnual count & audit summary
📄
Impact CertificateNamed PDF certificate
🌏
Annual Public ReportFull programme report
🇰🇷🇯🇵🇨🇳

The Anti-Dust Belt — A Regional Responsibility

Mongolia’s Gobi degradation sends massive dust storms across East Asia every spring, causing measurable health and economic damage in South Korea, Japan and China. Every tree you plant here is part of a living barrier that benefits the entire region — not just Mongolia.

👤
Individual Donors
Mongolia + East Asia diaspora, conscious consumers, gift-givers
🏢
Corporate CSR
Named groves, co-branding, ESG reporting, employee eCards
🏫
Schools & Diaspora
Class adoptions, city-to-source sponsorships, community projects
🌏
City Partnerships
Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing Anti-Dust Belt city-to-source sponsorships
🛡️
Our Survival Guarantee: We target ≥70% survival at Year 3, backed by independent GPS-verified audits and photo evidence. If a tree doesn’t make it, it gets replanted. 100% of your contribution goes to on-the-ground planting and care. No money leaves Mongolia.

Impact Map — Where & Why We Plant

Every pin on this map passed our GIS suitability analysis, received field validation by our team, and has an active Forest User Group stewardship contract. Below is the full scientific and operational context behind each planting decision.

10,000
Hectares — total project area in Arkhangai
3.94
tCO₂/Ha/yr sequestration (mature stands, Verra VM0047)
≥70%
Year 3 survival target at every site
40yr
Crediting period, Verra VCS VM0047 ARR methodology

The Scale of Mongolia’s Land Crisis

Mongolia is one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. The country has warmed by approximately 2.25°C over 80 years — more than twice the global average — making it one of the fastest-warming nations on Earth. 79% of Mongolia’s total land area now shows signs of degradation, driven by overgrazing, drought frequency, and the southward contraction of the forest-steppe zone. [1,2]

Dust storms from the Gobi Desert and degraded steppe travel east across China, Korea, and Japan. A peer-reviewed 2023 study in Nature documented a “super dust storm” that blanketed East Asia in April 2023, with Beijing recording aerosol optical depth readings described as historically unprecedented. The study confirmed a self-reinforcing feedback loop: dust raises temperatures, which dries soil, which generates more dust. [3] The Japan Meteorological Agency records dust events affecting Japan in 40 of the past 50 years. South Korea’s National Institute of Environmental Research estimates Yellow Dust (hwangsa) events cost the Korean economy $5–7 billion annually. [4,5]

Mongolia’s Forest Cover: What the Data Shows

Mongolia’s northern forest zone covers approximately 8.1 million hectares — roughly 5.2% of total land area — and forms the southernmost extension of the Siberian boreal forest. According to the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Mongolia lost approximately 1.2 million hectares of forest between 1990 and 2020, a decline of roughly 14%, driven by illegal logging, fire, Siberian silk moth outbreaks, and climate-driven drying. [6,7]

Forest loss is concentrated in critical watersheds including the Selenge, Orkhon, Tuul, and Kherlen river basins. The Selenge River alone provides approximately 50% of the total inflow to Lake Baikal — the world’s largest freshwater lake by volume. Deforestation in these catchments directly threatens regional water security. [8]

The National Suitability Map: Five Zones

Mongolia’s national tree planting suitability map was developed with the National Forest Agency (NFA), Mongolian universities, and international partners including AFOCO. It classifies all land into five zones. Green Shield only plants in Very High and High Suitable zones (except saxaul, planted only in mapped Gobi zones). [9]

🟢 Very High Suitable
Northern forest-steppe. Adequate rainfall, favourable soils, minimal permafrost. Primary target for ARR activities.
🟩 High Suitable
Forest-steppe transition. Viable with drought-tolerant species or drip irrigation. Our second-tier sites.
🟡 Moderately Suitable
Central steppe. Higher risk; requires careful species selection and enhanced care protocols.
🟠 Minimally Suitable
Semi-arid transition. Not targeted for forestry. Possible for shrub species only.
🔴 Saxaul Zone (Gobi)
Desert and desert-steppe. Saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron) only — the deep-rooted desert anchor tree that stabilises loose soils.

Our Three Flagship Sites

Green Shield’s current operations are anchored at three validated sites selected through the GIS process and confirmed by field teams during 2024–25: [10]

  • Selbe River Corridor (Ulaanbaatar): Riparian restoration along the Selbe River. One of the most degraded urban waterways in Mongolia, the Selbe carries heavy informal-settlement runoff. Willow and poplar planting stabilises banks and filters runoff before it reaches the Tuul River — Ulaanbaatar’s primary water source.
  • Gachuurt Valley (Ulaanbaatar outskirts): Forest-steppe restoration in a high-suitability zone with existing forest fragments that serve as seed sources for assisted natural regeneration. Native Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) are the primary species. The valley is inside the Tuul River watershed.
  • Mandal Soum (Selenge Aimag): Agricultural shelterbelt and forest restoration in the Selenge river basin — Mongolia’s most productive agricultural zone and a critical tributary of Lake Baikal. Mixed shelterbelt planting of elm, poplar, and larch protects cropland from wind erosion and late-season frost.

Carbon Sequestration: The Science Behind the Numbers

The sequestration figure of 3.94 tCO₂e/Ha/yr is derived from the Verra VCS VM0047 Methodology for Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation, calibrated to Mongolia’s boreal forest-steppe conditions. It is based on allometric biomass equations for Larix sibirica and Pinus sylvestris published by the Mongolian State University of Agriculture, and corroborated by IPCC Tier 2 biomass coefficients for the temperate/boreal transition zone. This represents mature stand sequestration (post Year 5). Early-year ER potential under VM0047 ranges from 1.11 tCO₂e/Ha (Year 1) to 3.94 tCO₂e/Ha/yr (Year 5 onward) for high biomass conditions. [11,12]

A mandatory 10–20% non-permanence buffer is applied to all carbon calculations under Verra VCS. Credits representing this percentage are withheld in the Verra buffer pool as insurance against loss from fire, disease, or other permanence risks. This buffer is not optional — it is a core requirement of the VM0047 methodology and the VCS Standard. [13]

What Each Map Pin Represents

Every location on the Impact Map has passed these verification steps before appearing:

✅ Site Verification Checklist

  • GIS pre-screening: Falls in Very High or High suitability zone; rainfall >250mm/yr; non-permafrost soils.
  • Field validation: Green Shield field team visits site, records baseline GPS polygon, photographs terrain in 4 cardinal directions, assesses water access.
  • Land tenure clearance: Land use rights confirmed with soum (district) government and existing land users, including any grazing agreements.
  • Baseline dataset: GPS polygon, photo points, soil assessment, and species suitability report filed in the project registry.
  • FUG stewardship contract: Signed agreement defining care obligations, milestone payment schedule, and audit requirements for Years 1–3.
  • Planting execution: Seedlings planted by contracted nursery partner; baseline photo and GPS dataset captured on planting day.

Survival data is updated annually after each independent audit cycle. Sites that fall below 70% survival at any audit trigger an automatic infill protocol, funded by the 5–10% infill reserve built into every product price.

Sources & References

  1. Mongolian Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring (NAMEM). Mongolia’s Third National Communication to the UNFCCC. 2018. unfccc.int/documents/197641
  2. National Statistics Office of Mongolia. Statistical Yearbook 2022: Environment Chapter. Ulaanbaatar, 2022.
  3. Chen Y., Chen S., Zhou J. et al. A super dust storm enhanced by radiative feedback. Nature, 2023. doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05952-6
  4. Japan Meteorological Agency. Yellow Sand Observation Data. data.jma.go.jp
  5. National Institute of Environmental Research, Republic of Korea. Asian Dust Annual Report. Incheon, 2022.
  6. FAO. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 — Mongolia Country Report. Rome: FAO, 2020. fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca9943en
  7. Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Mongolia. Mongolia Forestry Sector Review. Ulaanbaatar, 2019.
  8. Törnqvist R. et al. Hydrogeochemistry of the Selenge River Basin. Applied Geochemistry, 2011.
  9. AFOCO & SNU. Mongolia GRL Project Inception Report. Seoul/Ulaanbaatar, 2024.
  10. Green Finance Initiative. Site Validation Reports — Selbe, Gachuurt, Mandal. Ulaanbaatar, 2025. [Available on request]
  11. Verra. VM0047 ARR Methodology v1.0. Washington DC: Verra, 2023. verra.org
  12. IPCC. 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 4: AFOLU. Geneva: IPCC, 2019.
  13. Verra. VCS Standard v4.5, Section 2.4: Non-Permanence Risk Tool. 2023. verra.org/vcs-standard/

About Green Shield Mongolia

Green Shield Mongolia is a donation-funded reforestation platform operated by the Green Finance Initiative (GFI). We plant trees where the science says they will survive — and we prove it. Our work is anchored in Mongolia’s most urgent environmental reality: a country warming twice as fast as the global average, losing forests at scale, and generating dust storms that blanket East Asia every spring.

Our Mission

Green Shield exists to close the gap between tree-planting ambition and verified, long-term tree survival in Mongolia. The country’s Billion Tree National Movement has created extraordinary seedling supply — but supply without rigorous siting, care, and monitoring produces dead trees and eroded donor trust. Our mission is to be the verified demand channel: the platform that takes donations, deploys them to professional nursery contractors at the right sites, and then proves the trees are alive.

We are not a carbon credit company — though the underlying project is designed to Verra VCS VM0047 standards and we anticipate pursuing carbon certification as the project matures. We are a transparency-first reforestation platform. Every contribution funds a specific, GPS-recorded, independently audited tree or planting area.

Why This Matters: Mongolia’s Dual Crisis

Domestically: 79% of Mongolia’s land is degraded. Average warming of 2.25°C over 80 years has pushed the forest-steppe boundary southward and intensified drought frequency. The FAO estimates Mongolia lost 1.2 million hectares of forest between 1990 and 2020 — a 14% decline — driven by illegal logging, fire, and insect pest outbreaks. This deforestation threatens Mongolia’s water security, agricultural viability, and pastoral livelihoods.

Regionally: Mongolia’s Gobi Desert and degraded steppe generate dust storms that travel east across China, Korea, and Japan. A 2023 peer-reviewed study in Nature (Chen et al.) documented a self-reinforcing “super dust storm” in April 2023 with radiative feedback amplifying the event. South Korea’s NIER estimates Yellow Dust events cost the Korean economy $5–7 billion annually. Stopping dust at its source — by fixing soils and restoring vegetation cover in Mongolia — is the only permanent solution.

What Makes Us Different

The average survival rate of trees planted under Mongolia’s national programmes is below 50%. In Kharkhorum alone, 330,000 trees were planted and died without adequate after-care. We believe the credibility crisis in tree planting — globally and in Mongolia specifically — is caused by three failures: wrong sites, no after-care, and no audits. Green Shield addresses all three.
  • Data-led siting: Every site passes GIS analysis against Mongolia’s national suitability map before any seedling is ordered. We only plant in Very High or High suitability zones.
  • Native species only: Species are matched to each site’s specific water availability, soil composition, frost pattern, and ecological zone. No exotic species are used.
  • FUG-led 3-year stewardship: Approximately 1,100 Forest User Groups across Mongolia provide boots-on-the-ground care — watering, fencing, infill planting — paid on a milestone basis aligned to survival audits.
  • Independent survival audits: Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 audits are conducted by independent auditors with GPS-logged survival counts and photo evidence published in our Annual Impact Report.
  • Transparent MRV: Every donor receives GPS coordinates, a photo time-series, and a named impact certificate. Our full methodology is publicly available.

Our Team

G. Maralgoo
CEO — Forestry & Climate
Environmental and forestry management expert with 10 years of experience in project design, fundraising, and implementation. Maralgoo has led several high-impact initiatives including a $2 million public-private partnership focused on forest conservation and pest control. Her work spans climate change adaptation, AI-based forest management platforms, and complex multi-stakeholder collaborations.
T. Enkhtumen
Finance & Operations
Investment and fund management specialist with experience in sustainable finance at international financial institutions. Career began at Mongolia’s Ministry of Finance working on sovereign debt issuance, including the USD 600 million Khuraldai bond — Mongolia’s first international bond exchange offer. Subsequently led development of the IMF Extended Fund Facility and helped establish DBM Asset Management. Currently leads the ADB Affordable Housing financing mechanism for Ulaanbaatar.
D. Ariunaa
Programs — Policy & Partnerships
Holds a Bachelor’s in Health Policy and Administration (Pennsylvania State University) and a Master’s in Public Administration (Leiden University, Netherlands). Six years of experience as a Project Manager in the international non-profit sector and as a Research and Grants Officer at Mongolia’s Ministry of Health. Leads Green Shield’s partnership development and programme management.

Our Partners & MoUs

Green Shield operates with formal MoUs or active partnerships with the following institutions:

National Forest Agency (NFA)
Mongolia’s primary government forestry authority. Provides access to national suitability mapping, regulatory guidance, and land coordination.
Mongolian Nature Foundation (MNFA)
Leading Mongolian environmental NGO. Partners on community engagement, FUG coordination, and field monitoring protocols.
Business Council of Mongolia (BCM)
Mongolia’s premier business chamber. MoU for corporate partnership development, CSR programme facilitation, and Anti-Dust Belt business sponsorships.
AFOCO / World Bank GRL Project
The Asian Forest Cooperation Organization and the World Bank’s Green Resilient Landscapes project provide technical and methodological alignment for the Arkhangai programme area.

Legal & Financial Structure

Green Shield Mongolia is the public-facing donation platform of Green Finance Initiative (GFI), a Mongolian-registered organisation. Donations are processed in MNT through the Wix platform. Funds are held by GFI and disbursed to nursery contractors and FUG partners on a milestone basis — 60% at verified planting, 25% at first care checkpoint, 15% after Year 1 survival audit. A 5–10% infill reserve is maintained in each project account for replanting any trees that fail to survive.

GFI maintains financial accounts in accordance with Mongolian accounting standards. An annual financial summary is included in the public Impact Report. Institutional donors and government partners may request the full audited financial model.

Transparency & Accountability

Transparency is not a feature at Green Shield — it is the product. This page explains exactly how your donation is used, how we verify results, what we publish, and what safeguards protect against failure. If you cannot find an answer here, contact us directly.

How Your Donation Flows

1

You donate

Payment is processed securely in MNT via the Wix checkout. You receive an immediate order confirmation with your product details and GPS site allocation (where applicable).

2

Funds held by GFI

Donations are received by Green Finance Initiative (GFI), the Mongolian-registered operating entity. Funds are held in a dedicated project account and not commingled with operating expenses.

3

Site selected & validated

Your trees are allocated to the next available validated site — one that has passed GIS suitability analysis, field inspection, land tenure clearance, and baseline dataset creation.

4

Nursery contract issued

A contracted nursery partner receives the seedling order. Nurseries are pre-qualified by the NFA and hold active stock of verified native species. Payment to the nursery is issued on delivery of seedlings to site.

5

FUG planting & baseline capture

A Forest User Group (FUG) team plants the seedlings. On planting day, GPS coordinates and a minimum of 4 directional photo points are captured and logged. 60% of the site contract value is released to the FUG at this stage.

6

Year 1–3 care & milestone payments

The FUG provides ongoing watering, fencing, and infill care. 25% of the contract value is released after the first care checkpoint (typically 3–6 months post-planting). The final 15% is released after the Year 1 survival audit.

7

Annual audit & donor report

An independent auditor conducts a GPS-logged survival count at Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3. Results are published in the Annual Impact Report and sent directly to donors whose trees are included in that cohort.

Milestone Payment Schedule

We pay contractors and FUGs based on verified performance — not upfront. This directly aligns their incentives to tree survival:

MilestonePayment ReleasedVerification Required
Seedlings delivered to siteNursery invoice settledDelivery manifest + species check
Planting completed + baseline captured60% of FUG contractGPS polygon + photo points logged
First care checkpoint (3–6 months)25% of FUG contractSite visit or remote photo evidence
Year 1 survival audit (≥70% required)Final 15% of FUG contractIndependent auditor GPS count
Years 2–3 care continuationAnnual care stipendAnnual audit report

If Year 1 survival falls below 70%, the FUG is required to conduct infill planting before receiving the final payment. The infill reserve (5–10% of product price) funds the replacement seedlings.

What We Publish Annually

📍
GPS Site Registry
Every planting site listed with GPS coordinates, species, date, and FUG identifier.
📸
Photo Time-Series
Baseline, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 photos from fixed GPS-referenced photo points at every site.
📊
Survival Audit Results
Independent auditor survival counts by site, cohort, and species. Raw data available on request.
📄
Annual Impact Report
Full programme report including trees planted, survival rates, financial summary, and forward plan.
💰
Financial Summary
Aggregated income, disbursements, and reserve balances. Audited accounts available to institutional donors.
🤝
FUG Contract Register
Anonymised register of active FUG stewardship contracts by site and region.

What We Will Never Do

🚫 Our Anti-Greenwashing Commitments

  • We will never claim trees as “planted” until the baseline GPS and photo dataset has been captured on planting day.
  • We will never sell or claim carbon credits without completing the full Verra VCS verification cycle with an accredited third-party VVB.
  • We will never count dead trees. Survival audits are independent and published in full, including any sites that fell below target.
  • We will never use exotic species or plant outside our verified suitability zones.
  • We will never disburse more than 60% of any site contract before planting is verified on the ground.
  • We will never obscure failure. If a site underperforms, we publish the data and activate the infill protocol.

MRV Standard: Verra VCS VM0047

The underlying project methodology is Verra VCS VM0047 for Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation (ARR), the global standard for credible forest carbon accounting. Key requirements of VM0047 include:

  • Additionality assessment: Demonstrating that planting would not have occurred without external finance.
  • Baseline scenario: Establishing what carbon stocks would be without the project.
  • Monitoring plan: GPS-referenced sampling plots, biomass measurements, and annual reporting.
  • Third-party verification: An accredited Validation/Verification Body (VVB) must independently verify the project every 5 years before any credits are issued.
  • Non-permanence buffer: 10–20% of credits withheld in the Verra buffer pool as insurance against reversals.

Full methodology documentation is publicly available at verra.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about donating, our methodology, what happens to your trees, and how we verify results. Can’t find your answer? Contact us at greenshield.mn.

🌱 About the Trees
What species do you plant? ▼

We plant only native species matched to each site’s specific ecological conditions. Species used include Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) for northern forest sites; willow and poplar for riparian corridors; elm and native shrubs for shelterbelts in agricultural zones; and saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron) exclusively for Gobi desert sites. We never plant exotic or invasive species.

How do you decide where to plant? ▼

Every site goes through a two-stage process: first, GIS analysis against Mongolia’s national suitability map — developed by the National Forest Agency, Mongolian universities, and AFOCO — to confirm the site falls in a Very High or High suitability zone. Second, a field validation visit by our team to assess water access, soil conditions, land tenure, and existing vegetation. Sites that don’t pass both stages don’t receive funding. Full suitability zone criteria are described on the Impact Map page.

What is the survival rate target, and what happens if trees die? ▼

Our target is ≥70% survival at Year 3, measured by an independent GPS-logged audit. This target is contractually binding on our FUG stewardship partners. If a site falls below 70% at any audit, the FUG is required to conduct infill planting before receiving their final payment. The cost of infill seedlings is funded by a 5–10% reserve built into every product price — this reserve exists specifically for this purpose. We do not hide failures: all audit results, including underperforming sites, are published in the Annual Impact Report.

How long do trees live once planted? ▼

Properly established native forest species in Mongolia’s forest-steppe zone can live for 100–400 years. Siberian larch, our primary species, regularly exceeds 300 years in well-suited sites. The 3-year intensive care period is the most critical — trees that survive to Year 3 typically establish deep enough root systems to become self-sustaining. The Verra VCS VM0047 crediting period for the project is 40 years.

What is saxaul and why is it important? ▼

Saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron) is a deep-rooted, drought-resistant tree native to Central Asia’s desert zones. It is ecologically unique in the Gobi context: its root system can penetrate 10+ metres to reach groundwater, and its canopy physically anchors loose sandy soils against wind erosion — the primary mechanism generating Gobi dust storms. A mature saxaul stand can reduce wind erosion in its immediate area by up to 60%. We plant saxaul only in GIS-verified Gobi-appropriate zones. Growth is slow (5–10cm/year) but the long-term soil stabilisation impact is irreplaceable.

💰 About Your Donation
What percentage of my donation goes to the trees? ▼

100% of the product price is allocated to the planting programme. Our cost structure is fully explained on the How It Works page: the price covers direct field costs ($7.77/tree for planting and 3-year care), plus 15% overhead (staff, monitoring, equipment) and 20% contingency and sustainability margin (which includes MRV costs, infill reserve, and certification costs). We do not take a fundraising commission. Operating costs for GFI are covered separately through grants and institutional funding — they are not charged to donor contributions.

How are prices set? Are they competitive? ▼

Prices are derived from a detailed financial model built on actual 2024–25 supplier quotations, Mongolian government exchange rates (Mongolbank USD/MNT ₮3,593.79 as of March 2026), and field benchmarks from the AFOCO/World Bank GRL project in Arkhangai. The base direct cost is $7.77/tree. Comparable tree planting programmes in Mongolia and Central Asia report direct costs of $5–15/tree depending on site conditions — our costs are within this range and include 3 years of active care. The full cost model is available on request.

Can I donate in USD or other currencies? ▼

The site currently prices in MNT (Mongolian tögrög). If your payment method is in a different currency, your bank or card provider will apply their current exchange rate. USD-equivalent prices are shown on the product pages for reference (at Mongolbank rate ₮3,593.79/USD). We are working on localized checkout for KR/JP/USD donors — if you would like to donate in another currency, contact us directly at greenshield.mn.

Can corporations invoice Green Shield for a Corporate Grove? ▼

Yes. For corporate packages (Corporate Grove and above), we can issue a formal invoice in MNT or USD for settlement by bank transfer or purchase order. We can also provide an ESG impact letter, co-branded certificate, and supporting documentation for CSR reporting. Contact us at greenshield.mn to initiate a corporate partnership discussion.

📊 MRV, Proof & Verification
What do I actually receive as proof after donating? ▼

After your donation you receive: an order confirmation with your product details. Within 90 days of the planting season, you receive a digital impact certificate (PDF) with your name, the planting site GPS coordinates, species planted, and the date. At each annual audit (Year 1, 2, and 3), you receive a survival update with the site’s survival count and a photo comparison showing growth progress. All sites are also listed in the public Annual Impact Report.

Who conducts the survival audits? ▼

Year 1, 2, and 3 survival audits are conducted by auditors independent of both Green Shield and the FUG contractors. Auditors use GPS-logged transect surveys and systematic sampling plots to count surviving trees, following the monitoring protocol defined in the Verra VCS VM0047 methodology. Results are submitted to Green Shield and published in full in the Annual Impact Report. For the Arkhangai project area, the AFOCO/SNU technical team provides oversight of the audit methodology.

Is this a carbon offset? Do my trees generate carbon credits? ▼

Not currently, and we will not claim otherwise. The current platform is a donation-funded reforestation programme — you are funding verified tree planting, not purchasing carbon credits. The underlying project is designed and operated to Verra VCS VM0047 standards with the intention of pursuing carbon certification in a future phase. Once the project has accumulated sufficient monitoring data and completed a formal Verra validation by an accredited VVB, carbon credits (ITMOs or VCUs) may be issued. We will announce this clearly when it happens. Until then, please treat your donation as a verified environmental contribution, not a carbon offset.

What is Verra VCS VM0047? ▼

Verra is the world’s leading carbon standard registry. The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) is the most widely used voluntary carbon crediting framework globally, with over 1,800 certified projects. VM0047 is Verra’s specific methodology for Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation (ARR) activities — covering new tree planting on previously non-forested land. It requires additionality assessment, baseline establishment, a GPS-referenced monitoring plan, and third-party verification every 5 years. More at verra.org.

🌍 Environmental Impact
How much CO₂ does each tree absorb? ▼

For Mongolia’s boreal forest-steppe species under Verra VM0047, sequestration rates at mature stands average 3.94 tCO₂e/Ha/yr. At 100 trees per hectare (our standard density), this works out to approximately 0.039 tCO₂e per tree per year at maturity. Over a 40-year crediting period, a single tree can sequester approximately 1.2–1.5 tonnes of CO₂e in total, accounting for the lower sequestration in early years. These figures are conservative estimates based on IPCC Tier 2 biomass coefficients for the temperate/boreal transition zone.

Does planting trees really stop dust storms? ▼

Vegetation cover is the primary natural barrier to wind erosion and dust storm generation. Research published in Aeolian Research and by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) demonstrates that increasing vegetation cover by 30–40% in key erosion source areas can reduce dust storm frequency and intensity significantly. Saxaul stands in the Gobi specifically are documented to reduce wind erosion in their immediate vicinity by up to 60% (Inner Mongolia research, Chinese Academy of Sciences). Shelterbelts reduce wind speed by 30–60% in their lee zone, protecting soil from entrainment. Mongolia’s reforestation efforts alone will not eliminate dust storms — the problem is vast and requires regional cooperation — but verified, well-sited plantings in key source areas directly reduce the severity and frequency of events.

Still have a question?

Contact us directly at greenshield.mn or through the contact form. We aim to respond within 2 business days. For institutional or corporate enquiries, please include your organisation name and the nature of your interest.

Our Programs

Green Shield Mongolia runs three interconnected programmes: a core reforestation programme at verified high-suitability sites, a community stewardship programme through Forest User Groups, and the Advocates for Environmental Awareness initiative that mobilises individuals, schools and organisations to become active voices for Mongolia’s forests.

Programme Overview

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Reforestation Programme

GIS-verified planting at high-suitability sites across Arkhangai, Selenge and the Ulaanbaatar watershed. Native species, 3-year FUG care, and independent Y1–Y3 survival audits. Flagship sites: Selbe, Gachuurt and Mandal.

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Community Stewardship (FUG)

~1,100 Forest User Groups provide multi-year care paid on a milestone basis aligned to verified survival. This keeps money in local communities and directly ties income to outcomes.

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Advocates for Environmental Awareness

A growing network of individuals, schools, companies and diaspora communities who actively promote reforestation through fundraising, education, and public advocacy for the Anti-Dust Belt.

Advocates for Environmental Awareness

The Advocates programme exists because we believe the long-term survival of Mongolia’s forests depends not just on donors and contractors, but on a broader cultural shift: communities, schools, businesses, and governments in Mongolia and across East Asia understanding and caring about what happens to Mongolia’s land.

Mongolia’s dust storms are a regional crisis. The April 2023 super dust storm — documented in Nature (Chen et al., 2023) — demonstrated that Gobi degradation directly harms air quality, human health, and agricultural productivity in China, Korea and Japan. Advocates help make this connection visible: linking a donor in Seoul to a saxaul tree in the Gobi, or a school class in Ulaanbaatar to a larch seedling in Selenge.

What Advocates Do

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Educate

Share verified data on Mongolia’s land degradation, dust storm science, and the survival-first approach with their communities and networks.

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Advocate

Publicly support policy and funding for reforestation in media, government consultations, corporate CSR strategy sessions, and international climate forums.

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Fundraise

Organise donations, sponsorships, and school campaigns — with 100% of proceeds going to verified planting under a named site.

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Connect

Build city-to-source connections between affected East Asian communities and the Mongolian landscapes their donations protect.

Who Can Become an Advocate?

Anyone who cares about Mongolia’s environment and is willing to share that commitment with others. Current categories:

  • Individual Advocates: Mongolian citizens, diaspora communities in Korea, Japan and China, and anyone motivated by the dust storm and land degradation crisis.
  • School Advocates: Schools running environmental education programmes, class tree adoptions, or student-led fundraising drives linked to verified planting sites.
  • Corporate Advocates: Companies that go beyond purchasing a grove to actively promoting their commitment in CSR reports, internal communications, and industry forums.
  • Government & Institutional Advocates: Aimag governments, soum administrations, parliamentary representatives, and international organisations championing Mongolia’s Anti-Dust Belt agenda.
  • Media Advocates: Journalists, content creators, and media organisations telling the story of Mongolia’s reforestation with accuracy and evidence.

How to Join the Advocates Programme

1
Express Interest
Contact us at greenshield.mn with your name, organisation (if any), and how you want to contribute.
2
Onboarding
We share our Advocates Pack: data briefing, key messages, and campaign tools in your language.
3
Get Active
Launch your campaign, share content, run events, or organise donations with ongoing support from GFI.
4
Track Impact
Receive annual updates on trees linked to your advocacy, including GPS records and survival reports.

The Anti-Dust Belt: A Regional Advocacy Priority

The Anti-Dust Belt concept reframes Mongolia’s reforestation not as a local environmental project, but as a regional public health and economic intervention that directly benefits South Korea, Japan and China. The UNCCD identifies the Gobi Desert and degraded Central Asian steppe as primary sources of dust aerosols affecting North-East Asia. China’s Three-North Shelter Forest Programme (the “Great Green Wall”) operates inside Chinese territory. Green Shield’s work addresses the source of the dust — in Mongolia, where ecological conditions for high-survival native planting are strongest.

Advocates use this framing to engage Korean, Japanese, and Chinese donors, corporations, and governments who may not have previously considered Mongolia as a priority environmental investment. The connection is direct, verifiable, and urgent.

School and Youth Programme

Green Shield actively seeks partnerships with Mongolian and international schools. The School Advocates programme gives students a direct, tangible connection to environmental action:

  • Class Tree Adoption: A class collectively funds and “adopts” a named cluster of trees at a verified site. Students receive GPS coordinates, baseline photos, and annual survival updates.
  • Curriculum Integration: We provide an educational resource pack covering land degradation, dust storm science, native species ecology, and carbon sequestration — aligned with Mongolian and international science curricula.
  • Student Fundraising: Schools can run plant-a-thons, awareness days, and campaigns with 100% of proceeds going to a named verified planting site.
  • Annual Impact Report for Schools: Each participating school receives a dedicated section in the Annual Impact Report showing survival status, growth photos, and ecological impact data for their trees.

Corporate Engagement Programme

Beyond the Corporate Grove product, Green Shield offers a deeper corporate engagement track for companies wishing to embed reforestation into their ESG strategy:

  • Named Anti-Dust Belt Partner: Co-branding on site signage, annual reports, and the Impact Map as an official Green Shield Anti-Dust Belt Corporate Partner.
  • Employee Engagement: Employee eCard campaigns, internal awareness communications, and optional virtual site visits allow companies to engage their teams beyond a donation.
  • Supply Chain ESG: For companies with supply chains in Mongolia or East Asia, verified reforestation in key watersheds provides documentable supply chain resilience benefits — particularly for agricultural, mining, and infrastructure sectors.
  • Carbon Pathway: Corporate partners who engage now are positioned to access ITMOs when the Verra VCS VM0047 crediting cycle is completed, at a preferred price agreed at the time of partnership.

🤝 Current Programme Partners

Green Shield’s programmes operate under MoUs with the National Forest Agency (NFA), Mongolian Nature Foundation (MNFA), and Business Council of Mongolia (BCM). Technical alignment is provided by the AFOCO/World Bank Green Resilient Landscapes (GRL) project in Arkhangai. We are actively seeking school, corporate, government and media partners across Mongolia and East Asia. Contact us at greenshield.mn to discuss a partnership.

Become an Advocate

Contact us at greenshield.mn — tell us who you are and how you want to help. We will send you our Advocates Pack and connect you with the right campaign tools for your context.