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country (Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Kazakh-
stan, 2010). Consequently, the Institution Building Partnership Program
(IBPP) of the European Union launched in September 2008 the Ecological
Tourism and Public Awareness in Central Kazakhstan (ETPACK) proj-
ect, which explored the development of community, based ecotourism
promoted by national and international third sectors (the German Nature
and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and the Kazakhstani NGO
'Ecomuseum Karaganda.'
'KYZYLARAI' ECOCULTURAL TOUR, CENTRAL KAZAKHSTAN
Central Kazakhstan (Karaganda region) is also known as “The heart of
Kazakhstan” and has an area of 398.800 km
2
. Central Kazakhstan is a land
of ancient nomadic civilizations, boundless steppe expanses and natural
diversity. Since ancient times, these lands have been known by their po-
etic name “Sary-Arka.” The mountains of Central Kazakhstan (Karkara-
ly, Ulytau, Kyzylarai) are noticeable because of their “clean lakes, fresh
pine air and unique wildlife and have always played an important role
as signposts for travelers along the Silk Road as an oasis for rest and re-
cuperation” (ETPACK, 2010a). The Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve, which
includes the Lake Tengiz and several other smaller lakes, was assigned
as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site due to the local wetlands and
steppe biodiversity.
The Kyzylarai ecocultural tour has been developed by the ETPACK
project and is looking into the development of community based ecotour-
ism in Central Kazakhstan promoted by national and international organi-
zations. The two-year project started in September 2008 and was financed
up to 160.000 Euros (80% of the total budget) by the Institution Build-
ing Partnership Program (IBPP) of the European Union. The German Na-
ture and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and the Kazakh NGO
'Ecomuseum Karaganda' cooperated to realize the project and provided
the needed co-financing. During the project implementation, three ecosites
with a network of home-stays and one souvenir production of traditional
handicrafts were built up in Karaganda region (Ulytau, Kyzylarai and
Kent) and a small ecotourism operator “Nomadic Travel Kazakhstan” is
now marketing the tourism products of the ecosites, tours and souvenir
products. The tour Kyzylarai (3 days) goes through a combination of
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