With this article, we begin a series of publications entitled - "Preserving the Priceless Gift of Nature” dedicated to the state national natural parks of our Motherland.
Ile Alatau State National Natural Park (part 1)
One of the tourist gems of Almaty is the Big Almaty Lake *.
About the park
Ile-Alatau National Park is located on the northern slope of the Zailiysky Alatau and covers an area of 199 thousand hectares, being in close proximity to the city of Almaty. The length of the park from west to east is 120 km., And from south to north 30 km. The absolute heights within which the national park is located range from 1200 to 5000 m.
The main activity of the national park:
- Preservation of unique spruce and deciduous forests, numerous objects of the state nature reserve fund and historical and cultural heritage;
- Ensuring a special protection regime within the national park and its buffer zone;
- Continuous environmental education of the local population, visitors and tourists of the park;
- Conducting research in order to study biological diversity and develop guidelines for its conservation;
- Implementation of environmental monitoring of inanimate and wildlife objects;
- Carrying out measures to restore disturbed natural complexes, objects of the nature reserve fund and historical and cultural heritage;
- Managing anthropogenic pressures in the national park and its conservation zone for recreational-tourist, scientific, environmental and educational, limited economic and other purposes.
To accomplish its tasks, the territory of the park is divided into functional zones: conservation regime, environmental stabilization, tourist and recreational activities, as well as limited economic activity.
Around the national park there is a security or buffer zone, the role of which is played by the Almaty State Natural Complex Reserve, subordinated in 1998 to the national park.
Queen of Tien Shan - Schrenka spruce
The main natural property of the Ile-Alatau Park is coniferous forests consisting of Schrenka spruce, as well as deciduous plantations from relict apple trees of Sivers and wild apricot, aspen, birch, mountain ash, hawthorn, shrub and herbaceous plants. It is important to note that the Sivers apple tree is recognized as the progenitor of the entire modern assortment of this fruit breed in the world.
The national park has unique natural monuments, such as relict moss spruce forests, waterfalls, alpine lakes, stone glaciers and glaciers, as well as objects of cultural and historical heritage. These are the burial mounds of the Early Iron Age, the famous Saki mounds, and medieval fortifications. An ancient road runs along the spurs of the Zailiysky Alatau, along which tribes and peoples migrated in the distant past, and later the Great Silk Road arose.
The richness and beauty of nature, monuments and objects of natural and cultural-historical heritage attract thousands of tourists to the national park. The park has dozens of hiking trails, automobile, hiking and horse riding routes, and conditions have been created for one-day and many-day recreation amid nature. The existing tourist infrastructure of the national park allows receiving and serving tourists at a high level.
Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Honored Worker of Science of Kazakhstan, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR, Academician of the NAS of the Republic of Kazakhstan I.O. Baitulin
The history of the Ile-Alatau State National Natural Park begins in 1931, when the Almaty State Reserve was created in Zailiysky Alatau. Initially, it occupied an area of 15 thousand hectares. in the valley of the Malaya Almatinka river. In 1935, after increasing the area to 40 thousand hectares, and later to 856.7 thousand hectares. it began to be called Alma-Ata, already covering the entire range of the Trans-Ili Alatau. Regular scientific research on vegetation, typology of forests, birds and mammals began to be carried out on this territory.
Soviet and Kazakh botanist, specialist in the field of geobotany, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR B.A.Bykov
The initiators of the creation of the Ile-Alatau National Park were well-known Kazakhstani scientists - botanists, zoologists and soil scientists, including academicians of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR B.A.Bykov, E.V. Gvozdev and I.O. Baitulin.
Soviet and Kazakh parasitologist, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR E.V. Gvozdev
They perfectly understood the need to preserve unique forest ecosystems with the dominance of the Schrenk relict spruce and the Red Book hardwood - Sievers apple tree and wild apricot. The primary task in the conditions of an increasing flow of tourists and vacationers was the preservation of other natural complexes with all the elements of biological diversity, as well as glaciers, lakes and mountain rivers, which provide water for Almaty and many other settlements.
Tuyuk-Su Glacier
* Big Almaty Lake was formed as a result of the activity of an ancient glacier. Retreating, he left behind a moraine - a pile of clastic material: rubble, stones, earth. Subsequently, meltwater filled the formed basin. An alpine reservoir located in Zailiysky Alatau at an altitude of 2511 m above sea level, 15 km south of the center of Almaty. The water temperature in summer is 10–12 C.
Peak of Soviets
Three main peaks rise above the lake; they can be seen from the northern end of the dam: Sovetov peak (4,317 m) - in the southeast; Lake (4 110 m) - in the south, up the river valley; and the wooded slopes of Tourist Peak (3,954 m) are located southwest of the lake. Depending on the time of year, the lake changes color - from light green to turquoise blue. Above, at an altitude of 2,700 m above the blue bowl of the lake, in a very ancient glacial valley, there is an observatory village with spectacular domes called the Tien Shan Astronomical Observatory. And even higher, at an altitude of 3,300 m, near the Zhasylkezen pass, is the Cosmic Ray Research Station (Cosmostation). Big Almaty Lake is considered to be a popular holiday destination.
