The Tsaatan Community and Visitors Center (TCVC) is a dynamic facility owned and operated by Mongolia’s Tsaatan (or Dukha) reindeer-herding community. Located in the village of Tsagaan Nuur, Hovsgol province, Mongolia, the TCVC is designed to be a hub through which 100% of visits to the Tsaatan and their home taiga region are channeled. It is essentially a “gateway” through which visitors are able to engage fairly and respectfully with the Tsaatan, and obtain goods and services needed for their visit.
The establishment of the TCVC was initiated at the request of the Tsaatan community, and implemented as a project of The Itgel Foundation NGO. The TCVC was developed in response to the following problems:
The lack of sustainable income sources compatible with the reindeer-herding lifestyle of the Tsaatan community, who rank among Mongolia’s poorest inhabitants.
The increasing trend of irresponsible and exploitative tourism that negatively impacts the Tsaatan and their environment, and brings little or no benefit to the community.
The wider problems of marginalization and disenfranchisement that markedly affect the Tsaatan
In 2005, members of the Tsaatan community approached The Itgel Foundation with a request to launch a project that would mitigate the problems named above, and build on Itgel’s existing efforts in the areas of sustainable community development. A project plan was developed using participatory methods and community-wide decision-making, which came to be known as the “Tsaatan Community & Visitors’ Center,” or “TCVC” project.
Aware of the potential risks and benefits of various livelihood opportunities, the Tsaatan identified tourism as a path they wished to pursue. Based on the principles of community-based tourism, the TCVC is designed to maximize economic benefits to the Tsaatan community as a whole, protect natural resources and the environment, and advance the long term goals of the community, such as improved access to health and education, greater representation in the public sector, and community empowerment. Much more than a “tourism project,” the TCVC is a hub of educational and communications activities for community members, a means of organizing and mobilizing collective action, and a mechanism for placing Tsaatan individuals and Tsaatan interests at the center of activities affecting their community.