The Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve (, ) is located in

Aksy District Aksy () is a district of Jalal-Abad Region in western Kyrgyzstan. The seat lies at Kerben. Its area is , and its resident population was 137,103 in 2021. History Aksy District was established in 1936 as Tash-Kömür District. In 1943, when Tash- ...

Jalal-Abad Region Jalal-Abad (; ) is a region (''oblast, oblus'') of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is the city of the same name, Jalal-Abad. It is surrounded by (clockwise from the north) Talas Region, Chüy Region, Naryn Region, Osh Region, and Uzbekistan. Jalal-Abad ...

in western

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

. Established in 1959, it currently covers 23,868 hectares. In 1978 it was designated as a World

Biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. The Reserve is located at altitudes from above sea level. The name of Sary Chelek translates as "Yellow bucket" from Kyrgyz language.

Geography

Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve is approximately to the northwest of

Tash-Kömür Tash-Kömür (, ''Tash-Kumyr'') is one of the five largest towns of Jalal-Abad Region in Southern Kyrgyzstan. It is a city of regional significance, not part of a district. Its area is , and its resident population was 44,065 in 2021. It is loca ...

town. The reserve currently occupies , including s core area, and transition area. Its headquarters are in the village Arkyt.

Description

The comparatively large

Lake Sary-Chelek Sary-Chelek (also Sarychelek, Kyrgyz language, Kyrgyz: Сарычелек; Russian language, Russian: Сары-Челек) is a mountain lake located in Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve in Jalal-Abad Province in Western Kyrgyzstan. It is north of Arkyt, ...

is the main feature of the nature reserve. In the low hills south of Lake Sary-Chelek there are 6 smaller lakes: Kylaaköl, Iyriköl, Bakalyköl, Aramköl, Chöychökköl, and Chachaköl. The river Kojata divides the nature reserve in an eastern and western part. Average relative humidity is about 60 percent, and annual rainfall is about at the Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve.

References

{{Protected areas of Kyrgyzstan Biosphere reserves of Kyrgyzstan Nature reserves in Kyrgyzstan Jalal-Abad Region Protected areas established in 1959 1959 in the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic