When the National Geographic Society read out 15 names at this year’s Explorers Festival in Washington, D.C., one of them belonged to a Mongolian scientist who has spent more than two decades working, often quietly and far from any global stage, to protect his country’s wildlife. Dr. B.Nyambayar, founder of the Center for Wildlife Research and Conservation, has built a career studying and safeguarding Mongolia’s birds, from the migratory cranes of the Khurkh and Khuiten river valleys to the endangered pelicans and vultures whose populations his organization has worked for years to stabilize. Long regarded as one of the most respected ornithologists in the region, he has now added a new distinction to that record: winner of the Wayfinder Award, one of National Geographic’s most prestigious honors, given each year to a small group of researchers and explorers whose work has produced real, measurable change in conservation, science, technology, education, and social development. For B.Nyambayar, the recognition marks a rare moment on the international stage for a field of research that, in Mongolia, has long operated with limited resources and even less global visibility. It is also, in many ways, a culmination of the path he has walked since studying abroad on scholarship for his master’s and doctoral degrees, a path that led him back to Mongolia to found what has since become the country’s leading institution for ornithological research, and to build, almost from nothing, a national community of birdwatchers, young researchers, and conservationists who now carry that work forward with him. He sat down with us for his first interview since receiving the award, reflecting on the honor itself, the decades of work behind it, and what comes next for Mongolia’s conservation community.
First of all, on behalf of our readers, congratulations on this remarkable achievement. Amid what must be an especially busy, whirlwind stretch of days, could you share with us what this moment has felt like?
Receiving this award is truly an honor, and it was one of the proudest moments of my career. This was my first time attending the Explorers Festival, the National Geographic Society’s flagship annual gathering, and I was also invited to the opening of the newly established Explorers Museum, unveiled as part of this year’s event. The experience felt almost surreal. For years, I had only watched such moments unfold from a distance, on television, admiring the achievements of researchers and explorers whose work seemed to belong to another world. To finally witness it firsthand, and not merely as an observer but as a participant, standing on that stage to receive an award and presenting my own work before some of the world’s most distinguished researchers, is a privilege few are given. From now on, the title “National Geographic Society researcher” will accompany my name wherever I go. That is no small thing. It carries with it a responsibility I intend to honor and carry forward with the same dedication that brought me here. Looking back, I believe I have done meaningful work, and I am proud to have been recognized with such a distinguished award.
The Wayfinder Award is given to a select group of internationally recognized researchers and experts, and now you’re one of them. As you look back on the path that brought you here, what part of your work feels most significant to you right now?
I was nominated for this award by people who know and value my past work and my contributions to the environment. Being selected from among researchers and experts competing from so many countries feels like meaningful recognition in itself. I have worked exclusively in the field of wildlife and ornithology for more than 20 years, and during that time, I believe I have made a significant contribution to the conservation and study of migratory birds, not only in Mongolia but across the region.I think there were two things they valued most. First, my research itself. Second, the importance I have placed on training the next generation of researchers. Since I studied abroad on scholarship for both my master’s and doctoral degrees, I have always made it a priority to support young researchers coming up behind me. They also recognized the work I helped pioneer in ornithology in Mongolia. When I graduated, only a handful of people were working in this field. Today, there are many more who study and understand birds, and our organization has played a significant role in that growth. We founded Mongolia’s first Birdwatchers’ Club, and through it, we have worked to grow the number of people who love, understand and help protect our birdlife.
Winning such a prestigious award often opens doors. What kinds of opportunities and advantages do you anticipate it will bring?
There will be many advantages to this, and I see it as an opportunity, a chance to refine our work further, sharpen our methods, and push our research to a higher standard. This recognition will prove valuable in attracting research funding from countries around the world and in opening doors to new relationships and collaborations within a much broader global community. Until now, we carried out all of our work under the banner of our own modest non-governmental organization. Today, we find ourselves in the fortunate position of being able to draw on the name, reputation and reach of a world-renowned institution, the National Geographic Society. That is no small advantage. It also means we can open new paths for others, by identifying and nominating promising researchers in our field for this same honor in years to come. We are already planning to pass this experience forward, to share it with young researchers and organize training that will help the next generation walk this path a little more easily than we did.
As the founder of the Center for Wildlife Research and Conservation, you clearly set out with a strong vision, to build an organization that would be recognized and respected in its field. Would you say you’ve achieved that?
Our center began its operations in 2004, and for more than 20 years now, it has grown steadily, deliberately, one project and one partnership at a time. Today we employ 31 people, providing steady livelihoods while standing as the face of Mongolia’s ornithology sector. We have been directly and indirectly involved in addressing major bird-related issues, both in the field and in policy, and our voice is heard and valued well beyond the borders. All of this is the fruit of years of quiet, sustained work. We have fully achieved the goals and objectives we set when we first established the Center for Wildlife Research and Conservation, and that, in itself, is something not every organization can say. Right now, we are looking ahead, developing a strategic plan for the next 10 years of our work. As we take stock of everything we have built over the past two decades, I can say with confidence that we have achieved a great deal, and it gives us a strong foundation to build on. Our task now is to carry that momentum forward and reach even further in the 10 years ahead.
Looking across all your projects, which ones stand out most, whether in terms of social, economic, or environmental impact, or in the progress they’ve made in research and development?
Our center carries out a wide range of activities, spanning environmental research, public ecological education and community outreach. On the research side, we produce more scientific articles and publications in ornithology than comparable organizations, and we stand at the forefront of this indicator across the region. We are currently working to determine the migration routes of roughly 60 bird species across Mongolia, an enormous undertaking for an organization with as small a workforce as ours, and one that speaks to the scale of ambition behind our everyday work.
Beyond research, we have been active in bringing ecologically significant areas under national special protection, drawing international attention to them, and securing their registration under global conservation frameworks. A total of 11 sites in Mongolia are now listed under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Especially for Waterfowl Habitats, and our researchers played a direct role in registering four or five of them. Most recently, the Khurkh and Khuiten river basins received state protection, and we are now working to bring Lake Ugii under state special protection as well.
One of our most effective public-facing initiatives is the Mongolian Birdwatchers’ Club, a campaign that has made a tremendous contribution to deepening people’s knowledge and appreciation of birds. Our club’s page now has more than 20,000 followers. When I first started the club, I would personally take people around Ulaanbaatar to show them birds and teach them how to identify them. Today, many people do this on their own, without any involvement from us. It is no longer just professionals, ordinary citizens now share their own photos and videos on the club’s page and exchange information daily. Participation in our annual birdwatchers’ gathering, now a well-established tradition, has grown remarkably. For us, that is one of our proudest achievements.
In training and research, we have focused on strengthening the capacity of young researchers, drawing children and young people into conservation work, and expanding public knowledge and education more broadly. We currently operate three training and research centers. Research stations of this kind can, in principle, be established by any government body, private organization, or university, but we built ours around a simple question: why shouldn’t a non-governmental organization be able to establish its own research station in Mongolia? We are now also working to establish a research station in the Gobi.
I know you’ve done genuine, on-the-ground work to protect rare bird species and resolve the problems affecting their habitats. Which of these efforts would you like to highlight for our readers?
At its core, bird conservation work has always centered on three things: protecting endangered species, raising public awareness, and ensuring people have access to real knowledge and information. We have had genuine successes in protecting specific species, among them the crane, the pelican, the peregrine falcon and the vulture, and this work continues actively today.
The pelican, in particular, was pushed to the brink of extinction because its beak was used to make combs for scraping sweat and moisture off racehorses after fast races. For roughly two years, we conducted training and public awareness campaigns at the local, national, and international levels to address this. The practice has not disappeared entirely, but it has declined significantly, and that shift matters.
We have also worked tirelessly, over many years, to protect the crane. That sustained effort is part of why the Khurkh and Khuiten river basins were ultimately classified as nature reserves under special state protection. There are many such examples throughout our history, and some people may already be familiar with one in particular: for years, birds of prey across Mongolia were dying in large numbers after colliding with, or being electrocuted by, high-voltage overhead power lines. Our organization took a leading role in resolving this. Beyond securing so-called “killer poles” and installing insulators, we worked to standardize the design of high-voltage lines nationwide. We carried out a countrywide study to identify exactly where and how these problems were occurring, and presented our findings directly to the energy sector. As a result, a new national standard was approved, one that includes clear instructions for designing and constructing 15 kW power lines in a bird-friendly way. In a country like ours, where governance can be unstable and leadership changes frequently, work like this has to be carried out continuously and without interruption. Only then can it produce results that truly last. That particular project has technically concluded, but there is broad agreement, among us and others in the field, that it should continue.
It’s clear the center has built extensive international relationships and collaborations, given the scope of the projects and programs it runs. But how would you describe its working relationship with domestic organizations, especially at the policy and decision-making level?
It varies quite a bit, and much of that variation comes down to the instability of government itself. Some officials understand the work and genuinely support it, while others push it forward without really understanding what it involves. That said, in recent years, we have seen a growing trend of support for national non-governmental organizations working in the environmental sector, and that shift is worth noting. For a long time, international organizations carried out the bulk of major environmental work in Mongolia. There was a period when they did nearly everything themselves, or at least tried to. Now, we are seeing more and more capable national organizations step into that role. It is a welcome change, and one that reflects real growth within our own sector.
