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Kazakhstan taking steps to protect Snow leopards
The snow leopard is one of Kazakhstan’s rarest animals and a national symbol. Populations are scattered, stretching from high, rugged mountain range habitats in the east (administrative regions of East Kazakhstan and Almaty) to the south (administrative regions of Zhambyl and South Kazakhstan), complicating getting an accurate population count. Estimates place the number of snow…
Read MoreRussia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome: Transboundary impacts
The recent launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan of a rocket has once again brought to the forefront the dangers posed by this space facility that is operated by Russia’s RosKosmos space program. When a rocket is launched, boosters, rocket fragments, and other waste fall away, landing with a crash back on Earth. Generally, they…
Read MoreKazakhstan: an overview
Kazakhstan ranks as the largest nation in Central Asia and the world’s largest landlocked country. It share borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea. A land of deserts and plateaus stretching across the rolling tablelands of the Eurasian landmass, approximately 20 percent of Kazakhstan is mountainous, dotted by the Tien Shan,…
Read MoreSteppe eagles
Long-term study sheds light on Steppe eagle migration It’s a rough, but mostly routine, journey for Steppe eagles (Aquila nipalensis) migrating to their winter abodes, according to results of a four-year study. In May 2022 Russia-based ornithologists announced the results of a conservation project launched in 2018 that centered on the Steppe eagle and focused…
Read MoreChuisky Tract – Altai’s Path of Ancestors
Every visitor to Altai Republic travels this storied road, a piece of the region’s cultural heritage. Largely a 2-lane highway, Chuisky Tract stretches 963 km (598 miles) from Novosibirsk to Russia’s border with Mongolia, snaking across Altai Krai and Altai Republic and on into Mongolia. In 2019 the Russian edition of “National Geographic Traveler” included…
Read MoreReviewing the past year and a look forward to 2022
Here we are, nearing the end of December, and it’s time to review another challenging year and look forward to 2022. We all thought 2021 was going to be the year when we could say “post-pandemic”, didn’t we?! Once again, we are so grateful to our donors and funders for their support. You have been…
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