Project Leader: Marina A. Chirikova
Implementation period: 2023–2025
IRN: BR21882199
The Balkhash–Alakol Basin plays a crucial role in supporting the livelihoods of local communities and the national economy, serving as a source of water, fish, game, pasture, and other natural resources, while also harboring an exceptionally high diversity of wildlife.
Changes in weather and climate conditions, increasing recreational pressure on pastures, water bodies, and other ecosystems, along with active land development and rising water consumption, directly affect all ecosystems of the basin. Arid territories are among the most fragile environments due to their limited water resources. Effective resource management, including wildlife management, is impossible without clear and comprehensive information on the fauna, species composition, abundance, and population dynamics in a given area. Despite the long history of faunal research in this region, there is currently no cadastre of the wildlife of the Balkhash–Alakol Basin. This project aims to study the current state of wildlife in the arid territories of the Balkhash–Alakol Basin and to create an electronic cadastre of the region’s fauna by developing a digital database summarizing all available information on its animal life.
More information about the project is available at: https://ba-animals.kz/