News

Establishment of Altai Trans-boundary Reserve

27.09.2011

On 15 September 2011, Ministers of the Russian Federation and Republic of Kazakhstan officially signed an intergovernmental agreement regarding the establishment of the Trans-boundary Reserve “Altai” on the basis of Katunskiy Biosphere Reserve in Russia and Katon-Karagaiskiy National Park in Kazakhstan. The signed agreement is based on the six-years of consultations and negotiations with various stakeholders, and finally it designates two protected areas as international trans-boundary protected area (TBPA). This event is considered to be the first practical step towards the establishment of a four-lateral TBPA in the Altai, involving Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia. At the same time, the official agreement opens the door to prepare the nomination of the bilateral TBPA into the UNESCO World network biosphere reserves.