Uvs Lake Basin | |
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  Uvs Lake Basin  Uvs Lake Basin | |
| Coordinates:50°10′N93°50′E / 50.167°N 93.833°E /50.167; 93.833 | |
| Countries | Russia andMongolia |
| States | Tuva (Russia) |
| Provinces | Uvs,Zavkhan andKhövsgöl in Mongolia |
| Districts | Mongun-Tayginsky,Ovyursky,Tes-Khemsky andErzinsky in Tuva |
| Area | |
• Total | 70,000 km2 (30,000 sq mi) |
| • Protected | 10,688 km2 (4,127 sq mi) |
| Ubsunorskaya Kotlovina (Russia) | |
 | |
| Area | 2,843 km2 (1,098 sq mi) |
| Designation | Biosphere Reserve |
| Designated | 1997 |
| Uvs Nuur Basin (Mongolia) | |
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| Area | 7,717 km2 (2,980 sq mi) |
| Designation | Biosphere Reserve |
| Designated | 1997 |
| Location | Russia and Mongolia |
| Criteria | Natural: (ix)(x) |
| Reference | 769rev |
| Inscription | 2003 (27thSession) |
| Area | 8,980.635 km2 (3,467.443 sq mi) |
| Buffer zone | 1,707.90 km2 (659.42 sq mi) |
| Official name | Lake Uvs and its surrounding wetlands |
| Designated | 2004 |
| Country | Mongolia |
| Area | 5,850 km2 (2,260 sq mi) |
Uvs Lake Basin (alsoUvs Nuur Basin orUbs Nuur Basin;Mongolian:Увс нуурын хотгор,romanized: Uws nuuriin hotgor) is anendorheic basin located on the territorial border ofMongolia andTuva, a republic of theRussian Federation. The basin is part of theCentral Asian Internal Drainage Basin and is named afterUvs Lake (Uvs Nuur, Ubsu Nur), a large saline lake situated in the western part of itsdrainage basin, and is one of the last remnants of themammoth steppes. Uvs Lake is a shallow lake with an area of 3,350 km2 (1,290 sq mi). Its entire basin, which includes several smaller lakes, is 70,000 km2 (27,000 sq mi).[1]
Uvs Lake Basin may also refer toUbsunur 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 theGreat 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 theKhövsgöl,Zavkhan andUvs Provinces of north-western Mongolia, and theMongun-Tayginsky,Ovyursky,Tes-Khemsky andErzinsky Districts of southern Tuva.
The basin is part of a combination of raised lands and hollows located throughout theTannu-Ola andAltai mountainous regions. Here, the world's most northerndesert meets theNorthern Hemisphere's most southerntundra zone. An area of 10,560 km2 (4,080 sq mi), around three quarters of which lies in Mongolia, was designatedBiosphere Reserve in 1997, and a partly overlapping zone of around the same size was designatedUNESCO World Heritage in 2003. The Mongolian part of the lake and its immediate surroundings were further adopted asRamsar wetland in 2004.
TheTannu-Ola mountains form the northern border of Ubsunur Hollow.Tere-Khol' Lake [sv], the onlyfreshwater lake of the basin, lies, like Uvs Lake, on the Russian-Mongolian border. The more eastern part of the Uvs Lake drainage basin extends, in the north, to the Sengilen ridge of theSayan Mountains, and in the east, to the basin ofSangiin Dalai Lake. The southern part of the hollow is bordered by the basin ofKhyargas Lake, with theKhan Khökhii mountains separating both basins of theGreat Lakes Depression. More to the east, theBulnai mountain range [sv] forms the southern border of Uvs Lake's drainage basin. West of the Uvs Lake Basin lies the endorheic basin ofÜüreg Lake, bordered by theAltai Mountains. TheTsagan-Shibetu ridge [sv] separates, in part, the Uvs and Üüreg lake basins. The south-western tip of the Uvs Lake Basin covers most of theTürgen Uul [sv] range, and includes the north-eastern slopes ofHarhiraa mountain [sv].[2]
According toGreenpeace, Ubsunur Hollow counts 40,000archaeological sites from nomadicScythians,Turks,Huns and other tribes. A number of its archaeological artefacts remain unstudied. InCentral Asia, it has the highest concentration ofburial mounds, constituting around half of its archaeological sites, and many of which are older than theEgyptian pyramids. Thousands of rock carvings and stone sculptures remain frommedieval settlements andBuddhist temples.[3][4]
Archaeological searches carried out in 2007–2008 on thePor-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 theUyghur Khaganate.[5]
The population density is low in the Ubsunur Hollow. It is populated almost exclusively by the nomadicTuvan people and cattle breeders living inyurts. The lack of industry and the reliance of the inhabitants on traditional ways of life, such asnomadic pasturing, have had little impact on the landscape and have allowed the ecosystem to remain relatively free from the negative effects that human presence can impose.[4] Both the Russian[6]and the Mongolian parts of the hollow are home tonomadicTuvan cattle herders, who live inyurts and make up virtually all of the population.
The Hollow, located on the border betweenMongolia andRussia, lies at the intersection of complex ecosystems. Its area is 10,688 km2 (4,127 sq mi).[7] Theterrain includesglaciers,desert,alpine tundra, subalpine meadows, and a vast mountaintaiga areas. There are also forestedsteppes, treeless steppes,semi-ariddeserts, and ever shiftingsand dunes. It is a diversified natural habitat, producing an interaction of Euro-Siberian and Central Asian-Mongolian plant and animal life.[4]
Due to its location on the cusp of theSiberian andCentral Asian-Mongolian terrains, the flora and fauna of the hollow exhibit a highbiodiversity for mid-latitudes. Animal species that inhabit both mountains and tundra, such as theSiberian roe deer andAltai snowcock, flourish here. The endangeredsnow leopard is also present, as well as taiga dwellers such as theCaspian red deer,lynx andwolverine. Steppe dwellers include theMongolian lark,demoiselle crane and long-tailed Siberiansquirrel. Desert inhabitants include thebustard andmidday gerbil. The bird species alone number some 359. Since the hollow is a protected area, many ancient speciesextinct in other regions have found refuge here.[4]
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, asWorld Heritage Site, describing it as "one of the largest intactwatersheds in Central Asia".[3]
| Biosphere Reserve | World Heritage | Other instruments | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Designation | Components | Designation | Components | ||
| Tuva,Russia | Ubsunorskaya Kotlovina (1997):
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| Uvs Nuur Basin (No. 769rev, 2003):
| State Nature Biosphere Reserve | |
| Ubsunurskaya Kotlovina (No. 667010, 1993)[4][8] | |||||
| Mongolia | Uvs Nuur Basin (1997):
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| Ramsar Wetland | ||
Lake Uvs and its surrounding wetlands (No. 1379, 2004):
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Ubsunur HollowBiosphere Reserve is a fragile mountainhollow or depression located on the territorial border ofMongolia and theRepublic of Tuva in theRussian Federation among the mountains —Tannu-Ola Mountains, and theAltay Mountains region — part of a combination of raised lands and depressions. Here the world's most northerndesert meets the world's most southerntundra zone.
Ubsunur Hollow Reserve (Tuva) was awarded internationalBiosphere Reserve status in 1998, as a step toward protecting SouthernSiberia's wilderness which contain Russia's largest intact tracts ofSiberian Pine andSiberian Fir-dominated ecosystems.[9]
Ubsunur Hollow was nominated for inclusion in Russia's secondWorld Heritage Site (the first being theVirgin Komi Forests) in 1995 as "one of the largest intactwatersheds in Central Asia where up to 40,000 unexcavatedburial mounds and otherarchaeological sites can be found from historically famousnomadic tribes such as theScythians, theTurks and theHuns."[3] 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.
The Uvs Lake Basin World Heritage Site, designated as 769rev in 2003, includes:
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