Uvs Lake Basin
Uvs Lake Basin | |
---|---|
Biosphere Reserve | |
Designated | 1997 |
Mongun Taiga
Ubsu-Nur
Oroku-Shinaa
Aryskannyg
Jamaalyg
Tsugeer els
Ular
Tsagan shuvuut
Turgen
Uvs Lake
Altan els
Tes River
| |
Criteria | Natural: (ix)(x) |
Reference | 769rev |
Inscription | 2003 (27th Session) |
Area | 8,980.635 km2 (3,467.443 sq mi) |
Buffer zone | 1,707.90 km2 (659.42 sq mi) |
Lake Uvs and its surrounding wetlands | |
Designated | 2004 |
Country | Mongolia |
Area | 5,850 km2 (2,260 sq mi) |
Uvs Lake Basin (also Uvs Nuur Basin or Ubs Nuur Basin;
Uvs Lake Basin may also refer to Ubsunur Hollow (Russian: Убсунурская котловина, Ubsunorskaya Kotlovina), which is the western part of the drainage basin, or to over 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi) of protected areas covering the lake and its surroundings. The hollow forms the northern part of the Great Lakes Depression, which has a surface of over 100,000 km2 (39,000 sq mi). The hollow, and most of the drainage basin, are situated in the Khövsgöl, Zavkhan and Uvs Provinces of north-western Mongolia, and the Mongun-Tayginsky, Ovyursky, Tes-Khemsky and Erzinsky Districts of southern Tuva.
The basin is part of a combination of raised lands and hollows located throughout the
Geography
The
Archaeology
According to Greenpeace, Ubsunur Hollow counts 40,000 archaeological sites from nomadic Scythians, Turks, Huns and other tribes. A number of its archaeological artefacts remain unstudied. In Central Asia, it has the highest concentration of burial mounds, constituting around half of its archaeological sites, and many of which are older than the Egyptian pyramids. Thousands of rock carvings and stone sculptures remain from medieval settlements and Buddhist temples.[3][4]
Archaeological searches carried out in 2007–2008 on the Por-Bazhyn ruins, which are situated on an islet in the Russian part of Tere-Khol' Lake, suggested that the enclosure was built around the middle of the second half of the 8th century, under the Uyghur Khaganate.[5]
Population
The population density is low in the Ubsunur Hollow. It is populated almost exclusively by the nomadic
Flora and fauna
The Hollow, located on the border between
Due to its location on the cusp of the Siberian and Central Asian-Mongolian terrains, the flora and fauna of the hollow exhibit a high biodiversity for mid-latitudes. Animal species that inhabit both mountains and tundra, such as the Siberian roe deer and Altai snowcock, flourish here. The endangered snow leopard is also present, as well as taiga dwellers such as the Caspian red deer, lynx and wolverine. Steppe dwellers include the Mongolian lark, demoiselle crane and long-tailed Siberian squirrel. Desert inhabitants include the bustard and midday gerbil. The bird species alone number some 359. Since the hollow is a protected area, many ancient species extinct in other regions have found refuge here.[4]
Conservation instruments
In 1993 Russia protected the Tuvan parts of Ubsunur Hollow as the Ubsunurskaya Kotlovina State Nature Biosphere Reserve.[4][8] In 1995 Greenpeace Russia prepared its proposal to nominate Ubsunur Hollow, in conjunction with Mongolia, as World Heritage Site, describing it as "one of the largest intact watersheds in Central Asia".[3]
Biosphere Reserve
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World Heritage
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Other instruments | |||
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Designation | Components | Designation | Components | ||
Tuva, Russia | Ubsunorskaya Kotlovina (1997):
|
|
Uvs Nuur Basin (No. 769rev, 2003):
|
|
State Nature Biosphere Reserve |
Ubsunurskaya Kotlovina (No. 667010, 1993)[4][8] | |||||
Mongolia | Uvs Nuur Basin (1997):
|
|
|
Ramsar Wetland | |
Lake Uvs and its surrounding wetlands (No. 1379, 2004):
|
Biosphere Reserve
Ubsunur Hollow
Ubsunur Hollow Reserve (Tuva) was awarded international
World Heritage Site
Ubsunur Hollow was nominated for inclusion in Russia's second
The nomination was submitted in conjunction with the Tuva Republic and Mongolia and included 75,000 square kilometres of forest and steppe and associated cultural and natural heritage. Other sites included in this first Russian listing proposal were:- The Virgin Komi Forests in the Russian Far East (40,000 km2).
- The Volcanoes of Kamchatka (40,000 km2) including unique forests, salmon streams and volcanoes on the Kamchatka Peninsula).
- The sources of the Ob River in the Altai Mountains (65,000 km2 of mountain ecosystem) of Siberia.
- Vodlozero National Park (including Lake Vygozero) (10,000 km2), Europe's largest intact wetland and old-growth boreal forest (taiga) ecosystem.[3]
The Uvs Lake Basin World Heritage Site, designated as 769rev in 2003, includes:
- Mongun Taiga, Russia (50°12′N 90°12′E / 50.200°N 90.200°E), west of the Uvs Lake drainage basin.
- Ubsu-Nur, Russia (50°37′N 93°8′E / 50.617°N 93.133°E), area at the north-eastern tip of Uvs Lake.
- Oroku-Shinaa, Russia (50°37′N 94°0′E / 50.617°N 94.000°E), northern part of the zone around the Tes River, adjacent to part 12 on the Mongolian side.
- Aryskannyg, Russia (50°40′N 94°44′E / 50.667°N 94.733°E), east of the previous zone, partly in the Tannu-Ola mountains
- Jamaalyg, Russia (50°15′N 94°45′E / 50.250°N 94.750°E), west of Erzin
- Tsugeer els, Russia (50°5′N 95°15′E / 50.083°N 95.250°E), northern part of Tere-Khol' Lake , and environs
- Ular, Russia (50°32′N 5°38′E / 50.533°N 5.633°E), situated in the western part of the Sengilen ridge
- Tsagan shuvuut , Mongolia (50°19′N 91°9′E / 50.317°N 91.150°E), part of the Tsagan-Shibetu ridge
- Turgen , Mongolia (49°46′N 91°22′E / 49.767°N 91.367°E), mountain range south of Üüreg Lake, near Türgen, Uvs.
- Uvs Lake, Mongolia (50°20′N 92°53′E / 50.333°N 92.883°E), bulk of the Uvs Lake zone
- Altan els, Mongolia (49°50′N 5°0′E / 49.833°N 5.000°E), sand dune region south of Tere-Khol' Lake, including the Mongolian part of that lake
- Tes River, Mongolia (50°28′N 93°45′E / 50.467°N 93.750°E), zone between the delta at Uvs Lake and the Russian border
See also
References
- ^ "Uvs Nuur Basin in Mongolia". Nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 2008-09-24. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
- ^ Ubsunur Hollow at www
.discover-tuva .com - ^ a b c d "Russia's First World Heritage Site". Centre for Ecological Sciences of the Indian Institute of Science. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
- ^ a b c d e f "Uvs Nuur Basin". Greenpeace. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
- ^ Härke, Heinrich (2010). "Letter from Siberia: Fortress of Solitude". Archaeology. Vol. 63, no. 6. Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
- ^ "The Uvs Nuur Basin: Russian-Mongolian Cooperation for Conservation of World Heritage". UNESCO. 3 February 2006. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
- ^ "Uvs Nuur Basin, Russian Federation (Tuva) & Mongolia". United Nations Environment Programme. Archived from the original on 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ a b "The Uvs Nuur Basin". www.nhpfund.org. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
- ^ "Southern Siberia Hotspot in the Taiga". Tiaga News. 1998. Archived from the original on 2000-08-16. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
External links
- Ubsu-Nur Accepted into World Network of Biosphere Reserves
- Uvs Nuur Basin UNESCO Collection on Google Arts and Culture
- Russian Federation Legislative Survey: June 1990-December 1993
- Surveying the Lop Nor
- Uvs Nuur Basin at Natural Heritage Protection Fund website