The Altai-Sayan region is an area of Inner Asia proximate to the Altai Mountains and the Sayan Mountains, near to where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together. This region is one of the world centers of temperate plant diversity. Its biological, landscape, historical, cultural and religious diversity is unique. 3,726 species of vascular plants are registered in the region including 700 threatened or rare species, 317 of which are endemic; fauna consists of 680 species, 6% of which are endemic. Its ecosystem is comparatively unchanged since the last ice age, and it is the host of endangered species that include the saiga, nerpa, and snow leopard. It is the focus of ongoing international and regional environmental conservation initiatives.
The area is also culturally diverse, with four language groups (Russian, Mongolian, Sinitic and Turkic, formerly Samoyedic and Yeniseian as well) and more than 20 indigenous ethnic groups practicing traditional land use systems. There are also a variety of religions including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Tengrism and Shamanism. The region covers more than one million square kilometers, and has a population of between 5 and 6 million inhabitants.[1]
The Altai-Sayan has a total area of 1,065,000 square kilometers. Its area belongs to the territory of Russia (62%), Mongolia (29%), Kazakhstan (5%) and China (4%).[2]: 233
At the far north of the Altai-Sayan region, near its boundary, is the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk (population above 900,000 in 2010 census).[2]: 233 Other towns in the region include Kyzyl in Russia (pop. about 110,000 in 2008), as well as Ulaangom, Ulgii, and Khovd, all in Mongolia (each with population under 30,000).[2]: 233 The Russian town of Gorno-Altaysk (pop. about 60,000 in 2010) lies within the region near its western boundary, and the Russian city of Irkutsk lies just outside the region to its east.[2]: 233 The Altai-Sayan region's total population is estimated as about 5.5 million.[2]
For many centuries, the region has been at the crossroads of European and Asian civilizations, and thus is home to great historical treasures. The ancient history of the region is so unique that many historians and archaeologists call it “the cradle of civilization”. The ancient historic monuments are integrated into the natural landscape in such a way that it forms a harmonious and inseparable unity. Thousands of petroglyphs, cave paintings, antique burial mounds, menhirs, steles, tumuli and other ancient monuments are found in the area, some even as ancient as the Egyptian pyramids.[2]: 235–6
Anthropology
Tourists in front of the Denisova Cave, where the first Denisovan remains were found
Altai-Sayan is home to the Denisova cave, famous for the 2010 discovery of 50,000-year-old fossils of a new kind of human, the Denisovans. Since then, Neanderthal bones, and tools crafted by Homo sapiens have been found in the cave. This makes it the only place where all three hominins have been known to live. Conditions in the Altai-Sayan are stable, so ancient humans may have taken refuge there during glacial interchanges and lived off the diverse game species.[6]Malaya Syya in Khakassia, another ancient archeological site in the region, has been dated to 35,000 BCE.[2]: 236 [7]
Snow leopard, a globally endangered species whose northernmost habitat is in the Altai-Sayan region.[2]: 235 [9]
According to the New Scientist, the mix of mammals in the Altai-Sayan region has been among the least changed since the last ice age, in comparison to the mammalian population of any other region on earth. Its stability over time suggests that it may have acted as a refugium for mammoth steppe fauna both during and between ice ages.[10][better source needed]
The World Wildlife Fund has conducted studies of the region.[2] It has identified the Altai-Sayan ecoregion as a priority region for wildlife conservation.[12] According to the World Wildlife Fund, "The Altai-Sayan ecoregion is one of the last remaining untouched areas of the world."[12] Furthermore:
680 species of the vertebrates are registered in the Ecoregion. Among them: 77 species of fishes, 8 species of amphibians, 25 species of reptiles, 425 species of birds and 143 species of mammals.[12]
Threats to the biodiversity of the region, according to the Fund, include
poaching and illegal wildlife trade, industrial development, climate change, overgrazing and competition for pastures, unsustainable forestry, water pollution, and poverty.[12]
Beginning in the late 1990s, several government-level initiatives were begun with the stated purpose that included helping to preserve the Altai-Sayan ecoregion and biodiversity. In 1998, representatives of Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and Russia met in Urumqi to organize a trans-boundary nature reserve and launch joint biodiversity conservation programs.[2]: 237 That same year, several republics in the Russian Federation (Tyva, Khakassia and Altai) also signed an environmental protection agreement.[2]: 238
Five years later, in March 2003,
However, as of 2010, the steering organization "Altai, Our Common Home" had played a coordinating role "less in conservation and ecological themes" than in "economic and cultural exchange programmes".[13]: 250
Analysts stated that "while the [ecosystem conservation] soil has been prepared for cultivation rather well", after 10 years "there are no tangible results yet".[13]: 250 They expressed concern that
At the 'grass roots' level, managers of transboundary protected areas were not involved in the process. The leading role was played by international NGOs and funders. Overall, the general concept was not clearly formulated and developed.[13]: 250
^ abcdefghijklmMandych, Anatoliy F. (2006). Hartmut Vogtmann; Nikolai Dobretsov (eds.). "Conditions and trends in natural systems of the Altai-Sayan ecoregion". Environmental Security and Sustainable Land Use – with Special Reference to Central Asia. NATO Security through Science Series. Springer Netherlands: 231–275. doi:10.1007/1-4020-4493-3_18. ISBN1-4020-4491-7.
^Derenko, Miroslava V.; Malyarchuk, Boris A.; Dambueva, Irina K.; Zakharov, Ilia A. (November 2003). "Structure and Diversity of the Mitochondrial Gene Pools of South Siberians". Doklady Biological Sciences. 393 (1–6): 557–561. doi:10.1023/B:DOBS.0000010323.79378.ca. PMID14994550. S2CID22038385.
^Derenko, Miroslava V.; Malyarchuk, Boris A.; Denisova, Galina A.; Wozniak, Marcin; Dambueva, Irina K.; Dorzhu, Choduraa; Luzina, Faina; Miścicka-Śliwka, Danuta; Zakharov, Ilia A. (27 October 2005). "Contrasting patterns of Y-chromosome variation in South Siberian populations from Baikal and Altai-Sayan regions". Human Genetics. 118 (5): 591–604. doi:10.1007/s00439-005-0076-y. PMID16261343. S2CID23011845.