Zhongar-Alatau National Park

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

About Park

The Zhongar-Alatau State National Natural Park was created according to Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan No.370 of April 30, 2010. It is located in the Aksu, Sarkand and Alakol districts of Zhetysuskaya oblast of Kazakhstan. The total area of the natural park is 356,022 hectares.
Full name in Russian: Zhongar-Alatau State National Natural Park State Enterprise of the Forestry and Hunting Committee of the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The enterprise is a legal entity and has a category of republican significance.
Zhongar-Alatau SNNP was created with the aim of preserving natural mountain landscapes of special ecological, historical and aesthetic value. 1.05% of the total area of the park is occupied by wild-fruit plantations of the Asian apple tree, which is the ancestor of all cultivated varieties of apple trees in the world and requires special protection to ensure the preservation and restoration of the unique agrobiodiversity of fruit forests of global importance.
The opening of the new nature park was the result of many years of work by environmentalists, forestry specialists, the public, and government agencies. Assistance in the development of justification and technical documentation for the creation of the park was provided by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Development Program “In-situ conservation of mountain agrobiodiversity in Kazakhstan”. With their help, complexes of measures are being developed and implemented to maintain globally significant agrobiodiversity of wild fruit forests in the territory of south-eastern Kazakhstan.

Location

Zhetysuskaya region. Aksu district
Sarkand district
Alakol district.

45.1700″ N. 80.3500″ E.

Geography

The park is located on the northern macroscline of the Zhetysu Alatau ridge, which stretches from west to east for about 300 km. There is also the highest peak – the peak of Semenov-Tien-Shan, 4,622 m above sea level.

Flora

According to the floristic survey of V.P. Goloskokov, Candidate of Biological Sciences, 2,168 plant species belonging to 622 families, 112 genera are found in the Zhongar Alatau, of which 76 species are endemic growing only on this ridge. At least 75% of the above, more than 1600 species, are found on the territory of the Zhongar Alatau State National Natural Park. But the ultimate indicator may be higher, since at the moment the scientists of the natural park meet species corresponding to the habitat and ecosystems that are not included in the list of V.P. Goloskokov. These data show the richness and diversity of the park’s plant communities.
The taxonomic list of plants growing in the park includes 845 species. Among them are lower plants, that is, algae of 74 species belonging to 33 families and 28 genera. And 771 species are higher vascular plants belonging to 320 genera and 84 families. 56 species are endemic, and 26 species are registered in the Red Book of the Republic of Kazakhstan. 13 species are also relics.

Fauna

49 species of mammals belonging to 16 families and 7 orders, 170 species of birds belonging to 44 families and 16 orders, 661 species of invertebrates belonging to 71 families, 12 orders and 2 types live on the territory of the Zhongar Alatau SNNP.
Of these, 6 species of mammals, 13 species of birds, 7 species of invertebrates are listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Climate

+2 °С

-5...-10 °С

3000 mm

+10..+15 °С

1-7 m/s

Tourism

One of the main directions of the national park is the development of ecological tourism. Currently, there are 11 tourist routes and 2 ecological paths. The total length of the routes is 1,615.95 km, including 249.95 km – equestrian and pedestrian part and 1,366 km – automobile.

Tourist route No.1 “Ethnographic Tour” (at the historical places of Zhongar Alatau).
Tourist route No.2 “Nizhny Zhasylkol Lake”.
Tourist route No.3 “Scientific Educational Tour” (at the places of growth of natural wild-fruit plantations of the Asian apple tree).
Tourist route No.4 “Shumsky Glacier”.
Tourist route No.5 “Verkhny Zhasylkol Lake”.
Tourist route No.6 “Sarkansky Forest Nursery”
Tourist route No.7 “Forest Nursery” of the Lepsinsky Branch.
Tourist route No.8 “Karbushka and Its Beauty” (recreational and educational tour)
Tourist route No.9 “Black River Stow”.
Ecological path No.10 “Cheeks” (the confluence of the Lepsa River and Agynykatty River).
Ecological path No.11 “Kokzhar Stow”.
Tourist route No.12 “Attapkan Stow”
Tourist route No.13 “Zhamantas Stow”