In 2002 the Dutch Embassy in Beijing financed an expert mission to help with the formulation of the project, which started in 2004 and ended in 2013. With the assistance of the Hustai staff and the Dutch project leader the joint buffer zone committees and the Buffer Zone Council were able to produce a management plan for the buffer zone area around Hustai National Park.

It aims to improve the system of nomadic pastoralism, to establish a deliberate and sustainable use of natural resources and to invigorate small-scale services and industries.