Aktau-Buzachinskiy Nature Reserve

Established in 1982, the Aktau-Buzachinsky Nature Reserve covers an area larger than Greater London. It’s little-visited, rarely written about, and features a diverse landscape of gorges, small valleys, and coastal plains overlooking the Caspian. The southerly extent stretches for 30km from eastern Sarytash Bay to Kochak Bay and into the Kimbelek Salt Marsh.

Satellite view of Aktau-Buzachinskiy Nature Reserve and the Tub-Karagan Peninsula to the left.
Map Data: Google, © 2021 Landsat / Copernicus

The rest of the reserve extends 60km north along the Dolgiy Peninsula, part of the western Buzachi Peninsula, until Aktumsuk Bay. On the peninsula’s north-west coast are the remains of Krasnyy ‘Red’ Dolginets, an abandoned village and collective fishing farm, and the birthplace of decorated Red Army soldier Sisembaev Sham (1919–2004). According to Soviet maps, there may be a few more ruins on the road leading north to Aktumsuk.

Animals living in the area include the Ustyurt mouflon, Brandt’s hedgehog, Persian gazelle, foxes, caracal, steppe polecat, Pallas’ cat, whooper swans, occasional saiga herds, wolves, Caspian seals, and Dalmatian and eastern white pelicans. There are at least 15 reptile species and 30 types of birds of prey, such as vultures and white-tailed eagles. Please note that this information reflects the biodiversity as of the 1990s, and the current fauna composition may have changed since then.

View from space of the Tyub-Karagan and Buzachi Peninsulas.
Aktau-Buzachinskiy reserve shown in the bottom centre. Sarytash Bay is in the middle, with Kochak Bay to the left, and Tyub-Karagan to the right. Image courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov)
Tyub-Karagan Peninsula and Sarytash Bay seen from space.
The reserve shown at the top, with the Tyuleniy Islands extending west from the coast. Image courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov)
Photo from space of the Dolgiy Peninsula.
The Dolgiy Peninsula, with its westernmost tip turned into a ephemeral island due to fluctuations in the Caspian's sea levels. Image courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov)

Coordinates:

  • Krasnyy ‘Red’ Dolginets (Красный Долгинец): 44.9583, 51.1007

  • Dolgiy Peninsula (Dolgi Tübegı/Полуостров Долгий): 44.9071, 51.1391

  • Aktumsuk Bay (Aqtūmsyq Şyğanağy/Залива Актумсук): 45.0242, 51.2580

  • Kimbelek Salt Marsh (Kimbelek Sor/Кимбелек Сор): 44.5818, 51.6706

Resources:

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