Environment - Central Asia - page 452

There has been some good news, though: eight Przewalski's horses
were recently reintroduced into Kazakhstan's Altyn-Emel National Park
after being extinct in the region for 60 years.
Over the last decade Bukhara (Bactrian) deer have also been relocated
to reserves in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, including Altyn-Emel Nation-
al Park, raising regional numbers from just 350 to over 1000. You can pat
yourself on the back for this; the Altyn-Emel project was partly funded
with money generated by ecotourism.

Botanists say
that the modern
apple has its
genetic origins
in Kazakhstan;
revealingly the
largest city,
Almaty, translates
as 'Father of
Apples'.

National Parks
Many of the region's approximately three-dozen zapovednik (nature re-
serves) and zakazniki (protected areas) and dozen or so national parks
(gosudarstvenny natsionalny prirodny park) are accessible for tourists.
The existing system of national parks and protected areas, one of
the positive legacies of the USSR, is nevertheless antiquated and in-
adequate. All suffer from a chronic lack of government funding and
are under increasing pressure from grazing, poaching, and firewood
gathering. In Kyrgyzstan just 2.5% of the country's area is dedicated
to land conservation.
Kazakhstan's new Irgiz-Turgay nature reserve in the northwestern
steppes is part of a planned 62,000-sq-km system of protected areas
known as the Altyn Dala (Golden Steppe) Conservation Initiative that
will eventually see the reintroduction of Przewalski's horses and onager
(wild Central Asian ass).
The Tajik National Park in the Pamirs of Tajikistan and the Saryar-
ka Steppes and Lakes region of northern Kazakhstan are included in
Unesco's list of Natural World Heritage Sites.

NATIONAL PARKS
The easiet protected areas to visit include the following:
Aksu-Zhabagyly Nature Reserve (p85) High biodiversity in southern Kazakhtan,
famed for its beautiful tulips. An ecotourism program ofers excellent mountain hiking
and bird watching.
Ala-Archa National Park (p250) Fine hiking and climbing jut outside Bishkek.
Badai-Tugai Biosphere Reserve (p202) Protects a trip of tugai riverine foret on the
eatern bank of the Amu-Darya in Karakalpaktan. Entry fees pay for food for a Bukhara
deer-breeding centre.
Ile-Alatau National Park (p73) Good mountain hiking on Almaty's doortep, though
plans for a 16-lift ski resort at Kok-Zhaylau are controversial.
Karakol Valley (p266) Alpine ecosytem in the Tian Shan, southeat Issyk-Köl, with
superb scenery and ine trekking routes.
Kugitang Nature Reserve (p403) The mot impressive of Turkmenitan's nature re-
serves, focused around the country's highet peak and home to the rare markhor moun-
tain goat and several hundred dinosaur footprints.
Sary-Chelek Biosphere Reserve (p286) Remote trekking routes cross this Unesco-
sponsored reserve, centred on a large mountain lake.
Sayram-Ugam National Park (p86) Ecotourism programs include hikes and horse
treks.
Tajik National Park (p354) Covers mot of the eatern Pamirs (18% of the country!)
and ofers superb mountain trekking and mountain climbing.
Ugam-Chatkal National Park (p158) Unesco-sponsored biosphere reserve, with juni-
per forets, wild boars, bears and snow leopards, plus some ine hiking and rafting.