TheAltai-Sayan region is an area ofInner Asia proximate to theAltai Mountains and theSayan Mountains, near to whereRussia,China,Mongolia andKazakhstan come together. This region is one of the world centers oftemperate plant diversity. Its biological, landscape, historical, cultural and religious diversity is unique. 3,726 species ofvascular plants are registered in the region including 700 threatened or rare species, 317 of which areendemic; fauna consists of 680 species, 6% of which are endemic. Its ecosystem is comparatively unchanged since the last ice age, and it is the host of endangered species that include thesaiga,nerpa, andsnow leopard. It is the focus of ongoing international and regional environmental conservation initiatives.
The area is culturally diverse, with four extant language groups (Mongolic,Turkic,Sinitic andSlavic, and formerlySamoyedic andYeniseian), and more than 20 indigenous ethnic groups practicing traditional land use systems. There are also a variety of religions includingChristianity,Islam,Buddhism,Tengrism andShamanism. The region covers more than one million square kilometers, and has a population of between 5 and 6 million inhabitants.[1]
The Altai-Sayanecoregions contain and share a name with theAltai Mountains and theSayan Mountains.The Altai Mountains are a mountain range in East-Central Asia, whereRussia,China,Mongolia andKazakhstan come together, and are where the riversIrtysh andOb have their headwaters.The Sayan Mountains lie between northwesternMongolia and southernSiberia.
The Altai-Sayan has a total area of 1,065,000 square kilometers. Its area belongs to the territory ofRussia (62%),Mongolia (29%),Kazakhstan (5%) andChina (4%).[2]: 233
Part or all of the Russianoblasts ofKemerovo,Novosibirsk, andIrkutsk; theKrais ofAltai andKrasnoyarsk; and theAutonomous Republics ofAltai,Khakassia,Tuva, andBuryatia lie within the Altai-Sayan, as do parts of theIli Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of China'sXinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,East Kazakhstan province of Kazakhstan, and the MongolianAimags ofGovi-Altai,Khovd,Bayan-Ölgii,Uvs,Zavkhan, andKhövsgöl.
At the far north of the Altai-Sayan region, near its boundary, is the Russian city ofKrasnoyarsk (population above 900,000 in 2010 census).[2]: 233 Other towns in the region includeKyzyl in Russia (pop. about 110,000 in 2008), as well asUlaangom,Ulgii, andKhovd, all in Mongolia (each with population under 30,000).[2]: 233 The Russian town ofGorno-Altaysk (pop. about 60,000 in 2010) lies within the region near its western boundary, and the Russian city ofIrkutsk lies just outside the region to its east.[2]: 233 The Altai-Sayan region's total population is estimated as about 5.5 million.[2]
Contained within this ecoregion is theGreat Lakes Hollow, a largesemi-ariddepression, bounded by theAltai in the West,Khangai in the East andTannu-Ola Mountains in the North.[3] This contains six major lakes: thesaline lakesUvs Nuur,Khyargas Nuur andDörgön Nuur; andfreshwater lakeKhar-Us Nuur,Khar Nuur andAirag Nuur. These are remnants of theWest Siberian Glacial Lake, aperiglacial lake formed when theArctic Ocean outlets for each of theOb andYenisei rivers were blocked by theBarents-Kara Ice Sheet during theWeichselian Glaciation, approximately 80,000 years ago.[4]
According to Anatoliy Mandych, a geographer at theRussian Academy of Sciences (see alsoWWF[5]),
For many centuries, the region has been at the crossroads of European and Asian civilizations, and thus is home to great historical treasures. The ancient history of the region is so unique that many historians and archaeologists call it "the cradle of civilization". The ancient historic monuments are integrated into the natural landscape in such a way that it forms a harmonious and inseparable unity. Thousands ofpetroglyphs,cave paintings, antiqueburial mounds, menhirs,steles,tumuli and other ancient monuments are found in the area, some even as ancient as theEgyptian pyramids.[2]: 235–6
Altai-Sayan is home to theDenisova cave, famous for the 2010 discovery of 50,000-year-old fossils of a new kind of human, theDenisovans. Since then,Neanderthal bones, and tools crafted byHomo sapiens have been found in the cave. This makes it the only place where all threehominins have been known to live. Conditions in the Altai-Sayan are stable, so ancient humans may have takenrefuge there during glacial interchanges and lived off the diverse game species.[6]Malaya Syya inKhakassia, another ancient archeological site in the region, has been dated to 35,000BCE.[2]: 236 [7]
Recent genetic studies have shown that someindigenous peoples of the Americas are partially derived from southern Altaians.[8]
According to theNew Scientist, the mix of mammals in the Altai-Sayan region has been among the least changed since the lastice age, in comparison to the mammalian population of any other region on earth. Its stability over time suggests that it may have acted as arefugium formammoth steppe fauna both during and between ice ages.[10][better source needed]
There are three majorUNESCOWorld Culture andNatural Heritage Sites in the ecoregion – theGolden Mountains of Altai, consisting of theAltai andKatun Natural Reserves,Lake Teletskoye,Belukha Mountain, and theUkok Plateau;Lake Baikal, which forms part of the eastern border of the region, andUvs Nuur Basin in the Great Lakes Hollow.
TheGreat Lakes Hollow, in addition to its saline lakes, contains some of the most importantwetlands ofCentral Asia. The wetlands are based on the system of interconnected shallow lakes with widereed belts within thesteppe. As a key part of theCentral Asian Flyway, the wetlands support a number of rare andendangered migrating birds:Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia),black stork (Ciconia nigra),osprey (Pandion haliaetus),white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla),swan goose (Cygnopsis cygnoides),bar-headed goose (Anser indicus), andwhite pelicanPelecanus onocrotalus.[11]
TheWorld Wildlife Fund has conducted studies of the region.[2] It has identified the Altai-Sayanecoregion as apriority region for wildlife conservation.[12] According to the World Wildlife Fund, "The Altai-Sayan ecoregion is one of the last remaining untouched areas of the world."[12] Furthermore:
680 species of the vertebrates are registered in the Ecoregion. Among them: 77 species of fishes, 8 species of amphibians, 25 species of reptiles, 425 species of birds and 143 species of mammals.[12]
Threats to the biodiversity of the region, according to the Fund, includepoaching and illegal wildlife trade, industrial development, climate change,overgrazing and competition for pastures, unsustainable forestry, water pollution, and poverty.[12]
Beginning in the late 1990s, several government-level initiatives were begun with the stated purpose that included helping to preserve the Altai-Sayan ecoregion and biodiversity. In 1998, representatives of Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and Russia met inUrumqi to organize a trans-boundary nature reserve and launch joint biodiversity conservation programs.[2]: 237 That same year, several republics in theRussian Federation (Tyva,Khakassia andAltai) also signed an environmental protection agreement.[2]: 238 Five years later, in March 2003,
organizations representing state governments ofAltai Region (Russia),Bayan-Ulgii Aimag (Mongolia),Eastern Kazakhstan Region (Kazakhstan), the Republic of Altai (Russia),Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (China) andKhovd Aimag (Mongolia) resolved to establish an International Steering Board called "Altai, Our Common Home"[2]: 238
However, as of 2010, the steering organization "Altai, Our Common Home" had played a coordinating role "less in conservation and ecological themes" than in "economic and cultural exchange programmes".[13]: 250 Analysts stated that "while the [ecosystem conservation] soil has been prepared for cultivation rather well", after 10 years "there are no tangible results yet".[13]: 250 They expressed concern that
At the 'grass roots' level, managers of transboundary protected areas were not involved in the process. The leading role was played by internationalNGOs and funders. Overall, the general concept was not clearly formulated and developed.[13]: 250
The Altai-Sayan region is the northernmost habitat of thesnow leopard.[2]: 235 a species listed on theIUCN Red List of Threatened Species as globally vulnerable.[9]
The Altai-Sayan region, or phenomena associated with it, have been the focus of various types of science and scholarship in diverse fields: