KGZ02 Chandalash Key Biodiversity Area

Species that initiated the designation of KBAs [and other globally threatened species that are present in the KBAs but have not been confirmed to meet the global KBA criteria]: Astragalus sandalaschensis, Betula czatkalensis, Calophaca pskemica, Hedysarum santalaschi, Psychrogeton adylovii, Seseli tenellum, [Betula tianschanica], Falco cherrual.




Settlements on the territory of the KBA: - Adjacent to the territory of the KBA: Chatkal, Dzhany-Bazar, Aigyr-Dzhal, Kurulush.

General description: The Chandalash reserve is located in the upper reaches of the Chandalash River, in the Chatkal region. It was founded in 1975.
The KBA is located between two mountain ranges. From the northwest it is the Pskem ridge, and from the east it is the Chandalash ridge. The Chandalash ridge extends 72 km from Talas Ala-Too to the southwest to the confluence of the Chandalash River, the largest right tributary of Chatkal. The widest part is 10 km, the highest part is 4114 m.




The Chandalash River is formed on the southwestern slope of the Talas Alatau and flows into Chatkal. It is 94 kilometers (58 miles) long and has a drainage area of 1,157 square kilometers. The average annual flow rate is 11.7 m3/s. The maximum flow rate is 30.1 m3/s in June, and the minimum is 2.7 m3/s - 2.8 m3/s in March.

Several mountain rivers flow into the Chandalash River, which originate both on the Pskem and Chandalash ridges. These are the rivers Kaiyn-Suu, Achyk-Tash, Tokmok-Saldy, Kashka-Suu.




Floodplain forests of Tien Shan and Chatkal birch grow along the river bed. There are also separate tracts of wild apple trees. On the slopes of the ridges there are 2 types of juniper - hemispherical and Turkestan.

The Chandalasha Valley is also famous for the presence of a large number of endemic tulips - Greig's tulip and Kaufmann's tulip. The fauna is quite diverse. Ibex, snow leopard, Tien Shan brown white-clawed bear, marten, red marmot, etc. live here. Anthropogenic pressure leads to the fact that biodiversity is declining. In particular, ibex are increasingly leaving through the Pskem ridge towards Uzbekistan (the border runs along the Pskem ridge).




In the upper reaches of the Chandalash River there is the Chandalash section of the Besharal Nature Reserve. Unfortunately, due to its remote location, the site is poorly managed and this is leading to a decline in biodiversity due to grazing and poaching by livestock farmers on the jailoo (summer pasture).




Ecology: The Chandalash River is called the golden river, as there are a lot of placer gold deposits here. In the upper reaches of the river there is the Chaarat deposit. This is a primary gold ore deposit. And over many millennia, alluvial gold was washed out from this deposit, along the entire river bed right up to the tributary of the Chatkal River. Active development of placer gold deposits has negatively affected the ecosystems of the Chandalash River. In addition to the Booster company, which left several dozen hectares of unreclaimed land, several more licenses were issued to companies working up the river bed.




The license for the development of the Lower Chandalash field, with an area of 130 hectares, was received in 2012 by the South Korean company “Buster”. Gold reserves in the mine are estimated at 50 kg.

In 2016-2017, local residents and the mining company working at the deposit in the Chatkal region regularly had disputes regarding damage to the forest fund.




Attractions: Many settlements were found in the river bed, indicating that many people used to live in Chandalash, as evidenced by stone foundations, ancient mukhona constructions and slag: in ancient times, gold and silver were actively mined in the floodplain of the Chandalash River.