Mongolia, Russia

Uvs Nuur Basin

WHS Score 2.69
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Votes 6 Average 3.33
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Votes for Uvs Nuur Basin

0.5

  • Yevhen Ivanovych

3.5

  • Atila Ege

4.0

  • Juropa
  • Kasper
  • Richard Stone
  • Sascha Grabow

The Uvs Nuur Basin covers a range of diverse ecosystems within the closed catchment of the saline Uvs Nuur lake system.

The landscapes include desert, steppe, forests, wetlands, tundra and high mountain peaks with glaciers. This diversity, combined with the absence of major human impact, is also reflected in a rich variety of plant and animal species. It supports both resident waterfowl and migrating birds. Mammal species found here include snow leopard, mountain sheep (argali), Pallas’s cat and the Siberian ibex.

Community Perspective: This site has been unreviewed so far. It consists of 12 strictly protected areas in Russia’s Tuva Republic and Mongolia.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Uvs Nuur Basin (ID: 769)
Countries
Mongolia Russia
Status
Inscribed 2003 Site history
History of Uvs Nuur Basin
2003: Inscribed
Inscribed
1990: Deferred
Bureau - Has potential for nomination but make smaller and develop Management plan for crossborder cooperation
Type
Natural
Criteria
  • ix
  • x
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
Related
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Natural landscape: Rivers, Wetlands and Lakes
Travel Information
Transboundary sites
One thousand visitors or fewer
One thousand visitors or fewer
DD : “Controlled and uncontrolled tourism activities are affecting some of the component areas …
Recent Connections
View all (34) .
Connections of Uvs Nuur Basin
Geography
Trivia
Ecology
  • Snow leopard
    Two of the Mongolian protected areas, Turgen Uul and Tsagaan Shuvuut, are habitats for the endangered Snow Leopard
  • Bears
    Brown bear
  • Bird Migrations
    OUV: of major importance for waterfowl, as well as a stepping stone in the bird migration between Siberia and wintering ranges in China and South Asia.
  • Salt Flats
    Torkhiologiin-Gol delta consists of desert and salt flats (UNEP-WCMC)
  • Inselbergs
    sculptured granite inselbergs of which Yamaalyg Reserve is one (UNEP-WCMC)
  • Strict Nature Reserve
    Partly: Uvs Nuur Basin Strict Protected Area in Mongolia. "Environmental and ethnic tourism are beginning to develop. These are based on the scenery such as climbing on glaciated Mount Mongun-Taiga and on the nomadic lifestyle and its artifacts both present-day and historical. … But access to the basin is not easy, and a plan, management, infrastructure and facilities for tourism are not yet in place." (UNEP-WCMC)
  • Endorheic Lakes
  • Critically endangered fauna species
    Siberian crane

    See en.wikipedia.org

  • Taiga
  • Swamps and Marshes
    "to diverse wetlands and marshlands, freshwater and saltwater systems" (OUV)
  • Otters
    common otter (UNEP-WCMC)
  • Dunes
    desert of fixed and shifting dunes (UNEP-WCMC)
  • Steppe
    Mongolian-Manchurian Steppe. One of the best remaining natural steppe landscapes of Eurasia (AB ev Saryarka)
Damaged
  • Poaching
    concerns about poaching, Illegal hunting is of some concern, however, its impact on the population of target species appears low
World Heritage Process
Human Activity
WHS on Other Lists
  • Located in a TCC Territory
    Russia in Asia
  • Ramsar Wetlands
    Lake Uvs and its surrounding wetlands, 2004
  • World Biosphere Reserves
    Uvs Nuur Basin (Mongolia, 1997), Ubsunorskaya Kotlovina (Russia, 1997), Uvs Lake Depression Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, Mongolia – Russian Federation (2021)
  • Centres of Plant Diversity
    CA1 Altai-Sayan - "The more than 550 higher plants include relict species and a number of plants endemic to Mongolia and the Tuva Republic, with five species endemic to the lake basin."
Timeline
Visiting conditions
  • One thousand visitors or fewer
    DD : “Controlled and uncontrolled tourism activities are affecting some of the component areas of this serial site, such as Tore-Khol Lake (IUCN Consultation, 2017) and could cause a negative impact on the natural and cultural values of the site (Schuerholz et al., 2007). However, the opportunities for large-scale tourism in the basin are currently very limited, due to its remoteness and lack of tourism infrastructure.” (IUCN Outlook 2020)
WHS Names
News

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