In accordance with Article 50 of the Law «On Specially Protected Natural Territories», the State Natural Reserve is a specially protected natural area with the status of an environmental and scientific institution, including terrestrial and aquatic ecological systems, designed to protect, restore and maintain the biological diversity of natural complexes and related natural and historical and cultural sites.
The «Ile-Balkhash» State Natural Reserve is managed by the Forestry and Wildlife Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
According to the classification of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the reserve corresponds to Category VI:
The «Ile-Balkhash» State Natural Reserve was established on June 27, 2018 by Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 381. The area of the reserve is 415,164.2 hectares, located on the territory of the Balkhash district of the Almaty region of the Republic of Kazakhstan and is represented by 2 sites –«Pribalkhashsky» (area 356,296.2 hectares) and «Ile River Delta» (area 58,868 hectares).
By Order of the Committee of Forestry and Wildlife No. 17.5-6/225 dated 08/29/2018, the State Natural Reserve of Ile-Balkhash was transferred to operational management: The Balkhash State Nature Preserve (complex) with an area of 157.2 hectares and the Karoy State Nature Preserve (complex) with an area of 295.4 hectares.
The global significance of the reserve territory
The reserve is an extremely important natural complex of the Ile River Delta with the adjacent coast of Lake Balkhash. This is the only preserved river delta within Central Asia, while the rest (the deltas of the Syr Darya, Amu Darya, Chu, etc.) have practically degraded against the background of global desertification.
An advantageous geographical location, a large area, and places rich in food that are difficult for humans to reach create favorable conditions for breeding, molting and feeding a large number of aquatic birds.
The potential forage reserves of the territory are able to provide food needs for a large number of diverse fish, and as a result – a stable population of fish-eating birds.
The good preservation of tugai and saxaul forests makes it possible to preserve the unique complex of these landscapes.
The Key Ornithological Territory (IBA) of Kazakhstan has been allocated within the boundaries of the reserve:
The territory of the reserve is divided into zones with different types of protection and use:
- a protected area (124322.2 ha) intended for the long-term conservation of genetic resources, biological diversity, ecological systems and landscapes, having sufficient dimensions to achieve such goals;
The regime of the protected area of the state natural reserve
- Scientific research and monitoring of the state of the natural environment, including the maintenance of a Chronicle of Nature, are carried out in the zone of the protected regime of the state natural reserve, and activities for ecological and educational purposes are carried out.
- In the zone of the protected regime of the state natural reserve, any economic activity and recreational use of the territory are prohibited and a protected protection regime corresponding to the type of regime of the state natural reserve established by paragraph 1 of Article 40 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan On Specially Protected Natural Territories is established.
- the buffer zone (290842 ha) is a section of territory that is used for conducting environmentally oriented economic activities and sustainable reproduction of biological resources.
The regime of the buffer zone of the state natural reserve
- In the buffer zone of the state natural reserve, various forms of limited, regulated and non-adversely affecting the state of the ecological systems of the core zone of activity can be carried out:
1) scientific research and organization of centers of education and training of specialists;
2) environmental monitoring and control of changes in environmental systems;
3) forestry activities, fire prevention measures and protection of forests;
4) traditional land use within the framework of ensuring the long-term preservation and invulnerability of the biological diversity of the core zone and, in general, the sustainability of the ecological systems of the state natural reserve;
5) expanded implementation of measures to restore biological and landscape diversity, natural ecological systems;
6) tourism, recreational use, controlled and regulated in accordance with the recreational load established by the rules for visiting specially protected natural areas by individuals;
7) the use of mineral waters and medicinal resources;
8) environmental education, training programs, organization of demonstration sites and management of environmentally friendly nature management;
9) excluded by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 06/15/2017 No. 73-VI;
10) amateur (sport) fishing;
11) reclamation fishing;
12) scientific research fishing;
13) fishing for reproductive purposes;
14) beekeeping using nomadic and stationary apiaries.
- In the buffer zone of the state natural reserve, activities that can have a negative impact on the state of the ecological system of the core zone are prohibited, in particular:
1) creation of new settlements;
2) placement and operation of industrial facilities;
3) construction and operation of production facilities;
4) carrying out geological exploration and development of minerals;
5) main use cabins;
6) introduction of new species of plants and animals;
7) actions that change the hydrological regime of the core zone and buffer zone;
8) other activities that may have an impact on the ecological system of the core zone.
- In the state natural reserves, ecological and educational, scientific, tourist and recreational activities are carried out in accordance with the procedure established by Articles 41, 42 and 46 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan On Specially Protected Natural Territories.
3) a security zone is established in the territories adjacent to the reserve, with a width of at least 2 km.
The regime of the protected zone of the state natural reserve
- In protected areas of state nature reserves, it is prohibited:
1) placement, design, construction and operation of facilities, introduction of new technologies that have a harmful effect on the ecological systems of the state national natural park;
2) release into the atmosphere and discharge into open water sources and onto the relief of pollutants and wastewater;
3) mining;
4) hunting;
5) disposal of radioactive materials and industrial waste;
6) activities capable of changing the hydrological regime of the ecological systems of the state national natural park (construction of dams, dams, hydraulic structures and other facilities leading to the cessation or reduction of natural water flow);
7) introduction of alien species of wild animals and wild plants;
8) other activities that may have a harmful effect on the ecological systems of the State national natural park.
- Various forms of economic activity can be carried out on the territory of protected areas of state natural reserves that do not have a negative impact on the state of the ecological systems of the national park:
1) forestry activities;
2) traditional land use, including cattle grazing and haymaking, as well as other activities within the framework of ensuring the long-term preservation and invulnerability of biological diversity;
3) tourism and recreational activities;
4) the use of mineral waters, balneological and climatic resources;
5) commercial and amateur (sports) fishing;
6) carrying out ground and aviation works to extinguish forest and steppe fires;
7) reclamation of disturbed lands;
8) restoration of forest and other plant communities;
9) restoration of habitat and abundance of wild animals;
10) the use of land plots for the arrangement of tourist destinations, the establishment of nurseries for artificial reproduction, cultivation, breeding of endemic, rare and endangered species of plants and animals, as well as the construction of office buildings (cordons) for the residence of employees of the state natural reserve, providing them with office land plots.
- In the protected areas of state natural reserves, when carrying out the activities specified in paragraph 2, measures should be envisaged and implemented to preserve the habitat and breeding conditions of flora and fauna, migration routes and places of concentration of animals, to ensure the inviolability of sites of special value as a habitat for wild animals, as well as other objects of state the Nature Reserve Fund.4. Restrictions on the economic activities of land owners and land users in the protected area of the state natural reserve are established by decisions of local executive bodies of regions, cities of republican significance, the capital in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan On Specially Protected Natural Territories.
The main activities of the state nature reserve include:
1) conservation and restoration of biological and landscape diversity, natural ecological systems;
2) ensuring the protection regime of the state natural reserve;
3) support for sustainable socio-economic development of the territory based on the ecological and economic principle of using natural resources;
4) conducting research and monitoring for the protection and sustainable development of the territory, as well as environmental education and upbringing;
5) regulation of the use of the territory of the state natural reserve and its protected area for ecological, educational, scientific, recreational, tourist and limited economic purposes.
Map of the territory of the «Ile-Balkhash» State Nature Reserve
Designations: the border of the reserve territory is red, the border of the Karoy State Nature Preserve is green, the border of the Pribalkhashsky State Nature Preserve is blue.