CHARYNSKIY STATE NATIONAL NATURAL PARK

The natural-science substantiation of the territory expansion of the Charynskiy state national natural park is executed by the CRS and GIS «Terra», within the limits of the project «Working out of the natural-science and technical and economic assessment of the territory expansion of the Charynskiy state national natural park » in 2006.

The Charynskiy State National Natural Park is located in the Ilyiskiy intermountain trough in the Uigur, Enbekshikazahskiy and Raimbekskiy districts of the Almaty region, on an area of 93 150 hectares .It was organized according to the decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, that was issued with the number № 213, on February 23, 2004.

          On the territory of Charynskiy SNNP, there is a monument of nature, of the republican significance- the Charynskiy ashen- forest summer residence (on the area of 5014 hа), that was organized according to the decree of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR № 447-Р, on March 19, 1964. The main aim of this area- is to preserve the bottomland forest of the Palaeogene relict-the ash tree, that grows in the mountain hole of the Sarytogaj, in the valley of the Sharyn River.

           Also in the Charynskiy SNNP, there is the Charynskiy Canyon, it is the specially protected natural territory of the republican significance, it was included to the enumeration of the areas, which have particular ecological, scientific and other values, according to the decree of the Government № 657, that was issued on June 30, 2005. Here, there are under protection: the sheer rocky slopes of the canyon, the palaeontological findings, which were found in this region, and also the rare species of fauna and flora.

            The climate of the territory of the Charynskiy SNNP and of the adjoining areas is of the continental type. It is included in the temperate zone (of the sobboreal type of climate).The average annual rainfall amount is 220 mm, and the average air temperature is 8,2^оС, the accumulated temperatures of air (higher 10⁰) are about 3750^оС.

           The modern shape of the relief of this area was formed during the Neogene -Quaternary period, in the conditions of the differentiated tectonic movements, of the processes of the complex denudation and accumulation.

           A joined area, of the delta of the Sharyn River, occupies the part of the modern delta of the Sharyn River, where from the main river bed, the active and seasonal streams of water radiate. There are rather big of them, such as- Karaeren and Tashkarasu. In the south, in widened part of the Karaeren Valley, the Derevyannoe Lake is located, in the kettle of which the sand, that was carried out of the sandy mass of Karabaskum, by the western and southwestern winds, is accumulated. In the floodplain of the stream Tashkarasu, there are the swampy lowlands, the reason of which is in the  presence  of the former riverbeds, and the low sandy hills. The slopes of the valley are steep, they form the terraces of 3-5 m in height. In the south part of the modern area of the delta, the surface is strongly partitioned and deeply cut by the anthropogenic relief forms, such as the channeling in the latitudinal and meridian directions. The delta of the Sharyn River is formed of the sandy-argillaceous alluvium.

            The Boguty Mountains have the middle- mountain type of the relief, for which are typically: the smoothed shapes, but in some areas there are steep, rocky mountain slopes. The middle- mountain area is limited by the strongly partitioned terraces around of it. The surfaces of the ancient raised peneplain are widely developed. The massif is formed of the great variety of the heterogeneous rocks: sandstones, slates, flints, limestones, conglomerates, effusive rocks, granite and granitoid rocks. There are lavas of basalt, of andesite- basaltic, of porphyry.

The hydrographical features of the expansion areas of the Charynskiy SNNP are characterized of the presence of such large sources of water, as the Sharyn River, the Ily River. In the Ulken-Boguty Mountains, the basic sources of the surface water are the mountain springs,  the water output of which, is not high, and doesn’t have any value for the water supply of this area. The groundwaters are the part of the reserves of the water sources of the Ilijskiy Intermountain Trough. The groundwaters here — are the multilevel artesian basin, with the generous self- spouting cold and hot groundwaters , which flow out of the numerous water-bearing complexes and aquifers. They have the great economic and balneological values.

           The variety of the soil cover of the territory is closely connected with the orogenic-climatic factors, which are a cause of the display of the vertical zoning, within the limits of the mountains and submontane plains, and also a cause of the inversion zoning in the areas of the intermountain kettles. In the structure of the soil cover of the delta of the Sharyn River, the biggest areas (more than 60%) are occupied by the automorphic soil of plains, mountains, low -hill areas and plateau; the semi-hydromorphic and hydromorphic soils of the river valleys and delta occupy about 30%; the other areas are occupied by the sandy masses, the outcrops of the dense rocks, the pebbly shallows etc. In the Ulken-Boguty” Massif there are: the mountain chernozem soils , the mountain dark- chestnut and the light- chestnut soils, and also the low- calcareous light-grey desert soils , the grey-brownish desert soils and the saline lands.

          The floristic variety of the territory, that was offered for the expansion of the Charynskiy SNNP,  has more than1000 species of the higher vascular plants, which related to 436 genera and 92 families. So, on the area of the delta of the Sharyn River there are: 939 species, out of 426 genera, of 92 families; and on the area of the Ulken-Boguty Mountains there are : 985 species, out of 438 genera, of  89 families. The variety of the flora here is formed of the following endemic plants: an Ily barberry, Ily honeysuckle, Ily ferula small, heliotrope, Bem’s tulip, pshukurinskiy locoweed, Nedzveckiy’s oxytrope, sugatinskiy ferula, a Mihelson’s  marsh-beet, etc. Also, there are some species which grow on the border of its natural habitat here: a Krylov’s feather grass, an Ily and a Balkhash saxauls, a Regel’s elm, a Borodin’s locoweed, a Kirghiz and a polyphyllous pea shrubs , etc. There are rare species of plants here, which are included in the Red Book of Kaz.SSR (1981): a bloomy poplar, a Turkestan ash, a lacebark, a Kolpakovskiy’s tulip, a Krasnov’s cotoneaster, etc.

          On the offered for the joining territory of the Charynskiy SNNP, there are the following types of vegetation: steppe, desert, shrubby, meadow, marsh and tugai (the tugai light forest and the shrubby- tugai tangles). On the area of the delta of the Sharyn River, there are the following types of vegetation: the extreme arid deserts, the Asiatic poplar light forests, the oleaster- willow riparian forests and the sea-buckthorn- willow tangles, the reedy and reedgrass meadows. On the area of the Ulken-Boguty Mountains there are specific types of the deserts(the tasbiyurgunoviy deserts, the desert of bur grasses, the saxaul deserts, the elm deserts, the semirechenskiy- wormwood deserts), and there are the endemic steppes(the large-semiflosculous- feather grass steppes, the polygrasses steppes, the eastern feather grasses steppes), which are surrounded by the true deserts.

        The fauna is presented of 10 species of the fishes, 3 species of them, were taken from the Balkhash Lake; 4 species of the tailless amphibians; 10 species of the lizards;236 species of the birds, and 47 species of the mammals. From the variety of the animal populations, the rare species of animals, which were included in the Red Book of Kaz.SSR (1996), have a special interest .They are: a Danatinskiy toad, a Siberian wood frog, a barred toad agama, 22 species of the birds (a saker falcon, a black stork, a demoiselle crane, a bustard, etc.); 8 species of the mammals (a goitered gazelle, a mottled polecat, a Pallas' cat, an Asian barbastelle, a Central Asiatic river otter).

           Summarizing the above- described data, we can mark out the followings basic criteria of the necessity of the territory expansion of the Charynskiy State National Natural Park:

            1)  The uniqueness of the bio- and geo- systems, which joins in a whole the canyon- shaped valley of the Sharyn River, with its relict ashen forest, the fan-shaped delta of the Sharyn River and the adjoining areas of the deserts, partially, the areas of the steppes, which are situated in the upper part of the valley, the river ecosystems, which flow into the Sharyn River. Such complex of the biological and geological components, of the natural system, is not presented and is not guarded, within the limits of Kazakhstan and in the world.

               2) The low level of the air pollution, the locally organized-haymaking and tree felling, the cleanness of the river water, the absence of the large stock-farms, and the peculiarities of the geomorphological structure,- all these factors allow  to save the biological and geological variety on the offered for the  joining  territory of the Charynskiy SNNP.  At the same time, on this territory, the influence of the man's impact increases (a agriculture, a hunting, a logging, the timber processing, the tourist -recreational influence), that causes the necessity of the keeping of the central part of the Ilyiskiy Intermountain Trough, as a comprehensive whole, including its soil-vegetable cover, flora and fauna.

           3) The ecosystems of the national  park, at the maintenance of the reasonable balance between the native endemic, and the engaged in the economic activity, the transformed natural complexes, these ecosystems will be the example of biodiversity and structure, that is important not only for the comparative analysis, but also for the ecological education .

           4) On conditions, that the territory of the Charynskiy SNNP will be expanded, the additional workplaces will be created, both due to increasing of the staff of the SNNP, and due to the involving of population in the development of the ecological tourism, and providing of the services in this sphere. The development of the cultural-educational activity, the tourist activity, the ecological education, will not only increase the consciousness of population, concerning the protection of nature, but also will be a stimulus for the expansion of the spheres of activity of the local population, creations, and, accordingly, the improvements of the socio-economic situation in the region.

            5) The adoption, by the Government, of the decision about the expansion of the territory of the Charynskiy State National Natural Park, will be directed on the realization of the commitments of the Republic of Kazakhstan, according to the Convention of the U.N.O., concerning the problems of: the desertification control, the preservation of biodiversity, the problem of the climate fluctuation; all these steps will protect the steady development of the region.