Saryarka – Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan
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How it came to be
On the steppe of northern Kazakhstan lie two nature reserves 350 km apart, Korgalzhyn and Naurzum. Together they cover 450,344 hectares, with freshwater and salt lakes along the watershed between rivers flowing north to the Arctic and south into the Aral-Irtysh basin.
The lakes are key stopovers on the Central Asian flyway for birds travelling from Africa, Europe and South Asia to breeding grounds in western and eastern Siberia. Up to 15-16 million birds feed at the Korgalzhyn-Tengiz lakes, with flocks of up to 2.5 million geese. Siberian cranes, Dalmatian pelicans and Pallas's fish eagles occur, and flamingos draw visitors to Korgalzhyn.
More than 200,000 hectares of steppe hold over half of the region's steppe plant species and give refuge to the saiga antelope, greatly reduced by poaching. Both reserves have long been protected as strict nature reserves. They were inscribed in 2008.
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