Current view: Text account
Site description (2006 baseline):
Site location and context
The IBA lies in a deep depression in the limestone-gypsum desert plateau of the Mangyshlak peninsula 50 km to the east of Kendyrli Bay in the Caspian Sea and 65 km south-south-east of Zhanaozen city (Karakiyanskiy district). It consits of clay and sandy-clay northern desert with fragments of southern desert. The vegetation on the plains is mainly Artemisia-Salsola associations. The site comprises two parts – Basgurly (about 13 x 4 km) and Zhazgurly (about 16 x 6 km), it is edged with steep cliffs (“chinks”) of limestone and chalk. The total length of the depression is about 25 km, the width up to 14 km. There are several wells in the area.
The site supports a typical set of desert species and a high density of breeding birds of prey.
There is almost no economic use of the area; the main use being nature conservation.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The main threats are:
- illegal capture of Saker Falcons
- development of infrastructure for petroleum (oil) production.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
None.
The IBA is within the borders of the Kenderly-Kayasanskaya State Reservation ("zapovednaya zona") of Republican Importance managed by "Okhotzooprom" - Association of the Committee of Forestry and Hunting of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Basgurly-Zhazgurly Depression (Kazakhstan). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/basgurly-zhazgurly-depression-iba-kazakhstan on 23/11/2024.
