Flora. Kyrgyzstan travel. Tourism and adventures.

Flora
Diversity of flora in Kyrgyzstan is determined by the altitudinal zoning. Slopes, varying by humidity, create different kinds of vegetation. On northern slopes steppes, meadow-steppes, meadows, bushes and forests are wide spread. On southern slopes, because of dry climate there are no zones of forests and alpine meadows; semi-deserts and deserts prevail here.

Flora of Kyrgyzstan numbers more than 3676 plants of lower species and 3786 plants of higher species. 600 types of useful wild growing flora are found in the territory of the Republic, among them 200 types of officinal plants are found: vasilistnik, Karakol akonit, big elecampane, Turkestan motherwort, Turkestan termopsis, St John’s wort, coltsfoot, origanum, sea buckthorn, horse-tail ephedra, Veratrum lobelianum Bernh. etc. Wild plants having an economic importance include tinning joinweed, saltwort, barberries, rhubarb, Leafless Echinochloa, ferulage types, Fergana spurge, golden drop, types of thyme etc. A unique natural formation in the south of Kyrgyzstan is the walnut forests. Walnut, Siverse apple tree, Sogdy alycha, standard pear, Korjinsky pear, Tian-Shan cherry, barberries, almonds, pistachio, Djungar and Turkestan hawthorn and many others are growing here and represent a valuable genetic material

The most known plants of Kyrgyz Republic are:
Tulips of Greig (Tulipa greigii Regel)
Tulips of Kaufmann (Tulipa kaufmanniana Regel)
Tulips of Kolpakowsky (Tulipa kolpakowskiana Regel)
Edelweiss (Leontopodium ochroleucum Beauverd)
Tien-Shan Fir (Fir of Shrenk) (P. schrenkiana Fisch. et Mey)
Fir of Semyonov (Abies semenovii)
Archa (Juniper) (I. turkestanica Kom.)

The most widely spread trees are spruce, juniper (archa), and nut- and fruit-tree forests. There are also spruce, maple, poplar-willow, and birch forests and Tien-Shan rowan-trees grow everywhere. There are walnut forests occupying an area of over 600,000 hectares, (the largest walnut forests in the world — featuring walnut-trees, apple-trees, pear-trees, and cherry-plum, cherry, currant, and rasp-berries canes), in the South-East of Kyrgyzstan in the Fergana and Chatkal ranges at altitudes between 1000 and 2200 meters a. s. l. Shrub thickets such as «karaghun», cherry, rosary, pistachio, almond, cherry-plum, sea-buckthorn, barberry, mellow are widely spread throughout the countryside. Sea-buckthorn, dog-rose, and willow grow in the flood-lands of several rivers.

In alpine meadows (at an altitude of 3000 meters a. s. l.) edelweiss, dandelion, Alpine Aster, Semenov onion and primroses grow. Edelweiss is not as rare as it is in Europe — and dandelions are not thought of as weeds in the same way as they are in the West. At certain times of the year the mountain sides may be covered with poppies or tulips. About 5 km south of the Jety Orguz sanatoria, is Dolina Svetov (Valley of the flowers) a valley opens out which is ablaze with colour from May — when there are multitudes of poppies — throughout early summer. Apparently there are repted to be petroglyphs here — but no-one seems to know exactly where. There are often yurts here which can offer accommodation.

In the forests, steppes, and meadows it is possible to find many different species of funguses. «Mushroom gathering» used to be a very common activity.

The flora of Kyrgyzstan includes many different types of medicinal herbs, such as: ephedra, plantain, milfoil, sage, dog-rose, dushitsa, wormwort — and many others.

NATIONAL PARKS etc.

To help preserve the priceless, pristine, virgin, natural resources that it possesses, Kyrgyzstan has a total of 83 specially protected natural territories, with a total area of 761300 hectares, which is almost 4% of Kyrgyzstan’s total land area. Perhaps, the most famous of these specially protected regions is Ala Archa — just outside Bishkek.

NATIONAL PARKS — One of the main tasks of the National Parks is to organize tourism that is not harmful to the nature.

Ala-Archa — founded in 1974 to protect the old Ala-Archa River and its environs for the sake of society and future generations. The National Park extends 15 km along the canyon with altitudes ranging from 1500m to 2240m.
Chong-Kemin — founded in 1997 in the Chong-Kemin river valley and included almost all the forest farms of the Kemin district. The park’s main task is to preserve the unique landscapes with their diversity of fauna and flora.
Natural Parks — formed to preserve the natural environment of the area whilst making it available for recreational activities.
Karakol — founded in 1997, with a total area of 38,256 hectares including 4767 hectares of forests.
Kyrgyz Ata — founded in 1992, with 1,172 hectares to preserve the local, natural archa forest
Besh Tash — established in 1996 with 32411 hectares
Kara-Shoro — established in 1996 with 8,450 hectares

FOREST RESERVES — These regions are completely exempted from economic activity, including fishing, hunting, picking wild plants. One of the essential tasks of the reserves is to educate and enlighten the population about the ecological care within this territory.
The Issyk-Kul state preserve was founded in 1948 with the aim of preserving the habitat of waterfowl which winter in the region around lake Issyk-Kul. It has an international importance, and occupies some 19,000 hectares.
The Naryn state reserve was founded in 1983 and coniferous forests, alpine meadows, and other ecosystems are protected by it.
Besh-Aral. The Besh-Aral Zapovednik (Bio-diversity Reserve) is situated in the Chatkal Valley of the Jalal-Abad Oblast 340 km from Jalal Abad the oblast centre and 25 km from Kanysh-Kiya the Chatkal Rayon centre. It represents a mountain region with undisturbed wild landscapes, turbulent rivers, picturesque alpine meadows and clear mountain air, and a great diversity of plants and animals.
The Reserve (with a total area of 63200 hectares) was created to preserve the habitat and to restore the populations of several endangered species found in the Western Tien Shan. In particular the Menzbir«s marmot and the Kauffmann and Greig tulips. There is a wide variety of both plants and animals, due to the different reliefs, remoteness and difficult access. (Although an ancient link of the Silk Road passed through the Chatkal valley, access is over either the Kara-Buura pass (3305 m), or the Chapchim pass (2841 m) by gravel roads that are often impassable during winter and spring.
The reserve occupies the mountain slopes of the western end of Chatkal valley that includes a number of landscape types — meadow-steppe, alpine-meadow-steppe, high mountain-steppe, mountain coniferous forest, and mountain deciduous forest. It is host to three state forests : the Ken-Bulun, Barkyrak and Arab forests.
Deciduous forests comprise trees such as walnut, apple, pear, almond, maple, hawthorn and also an undergrowth of shrubs such as honeysuckle, cotoneaster, Meyer"s currant, laxative buckthorn, spirea and dog rose to mention only a few. Woodlands of poplar, birch and willow are found on the floodplain along the river valleys, with an undergrowth of sea buckthorn, honeysuckle, willow, cotoneaster, dog rose, and the dove-coloured blackberry. Amongst the herbs growing here are liquorice, yarrow, St. John»s wort, and many grasses.
The mountain coniferous forests comprise stands of juniper on the North facing slopes at elevations of 1700 to 3000m with trees between 4 and 7 m. high, and also spruce, with an undergrowth of mainly honeysuckle, barberry, spirea and dog rose. Meadow-steppe species grow in the open areas; and shade-loving forest grasses and mosses under the juniper trees.
In the Soviet period the reserve was important for livestock breeding with large numbers of cattle were summered on the high pastures and for haymaking. The decline in the number of sheep grazing here since the fall of the USSR has been instrumental in the restoration of the biodiversity and the recovery in numbers of Menzbir"s marmot. Agriculture has not recovered since the demise of the Union — although fruit trees are reported to give good yields. The major areas of walnut and other fruit trees are in the western end of the Chatkal Valley, which is accessible only by horseback.
The Sary-Chelek biospherical reserve occupying some 23868 hectares, was founded in 1959 with the purpose of preserving the forests and mountain landscapes that surround lake Sary-Chelek.
The Karatal-Japaryk reserve was founded in 1995 in the forest regions of the northern hills of the Kargo mountains . It consists of two small areas — the northern part and the southern part — and occupies some 72,000 hectares.

Kyrgyzstan travel