Gorge Tash-Rabat (27418)
Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2010
National site name: Gorge Tash-Rabat
Central coordinates: Latitude: 40.9400, Longitude: 75.2533
System: terrestrial
Area of KBA (km2): 116.50746
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: IBA is in administrative Atbash region of Nari oblast (region), 40 km south of village At-Bash. This gorge is western part of Atbash mountain range. In former times it was part of the famous Silk Road to China. High in the mountains is situated an old shelter for strangers, historic monument Tash-Rabat. Modern highway to China is laid to the west, skirting Atbash mountain range. IBA is a gorge 15-18 km length, stretched from north-west to south-east. In the 3-4 km of the entrance gorge are greatly narrowed and rocky outlets formatting steep, sometimes sheer rocks. Spruce forest on the slopes isn’t dense, higher is goes into creeping juniper. At the top gorge widens, forming small, closed by winds, almost forestless hollows in width about one km.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas)
Additional biodiversity: Mountain ecosystem of the Central Tian-Shan is very peculiar: biotic component is formed from elements of Himalaya, Siberia and the local fauna. So here is possible to use “biome-restricted” criterion.First of all IBA is very important to conserve raptors, whose numbers are still holding at the high level. Non-bird biodiversity: IBA is also home to Snow Leopard, Lynx, Bear, Wolf, Argali, Roe and a high number Altai Marmot.
Habitats
Land use: forestry (25%) | hunting (30%) | tourism/recreation (100%)
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 15 | |
| Shrubland | 9 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 1 | |
| Grassland | 45 | |
| Rocky Areas(e.g., inland cliffs, mountain peaks) | 30 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The most tangible threat is poaching and trapping of raptors and destruction of nests, also logging (B) and selective logging (B)
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biological resource use | Logging & wood harvesting | Unintentional effects: subsistence/small scale (species being assessed is not the target) [harvest] | Ongoing |
| Biological resource use | Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals | Intentional use (species being assessed is the target) | Ongoing |
Additional information
References: Kovshar A. F., Lange M., Toropova V. I., Ornithological observations in Inner, Central, Southern of Tian-Shan and border ranges of Alai mountain system within Kyrgyzstan. J. Seleviniya, Alma-Ata, 2004, p. 97-107 Kidiraliev A. K. Birds of high mountains of Central Tian-Shan. Izvestiya Kirghiz SSR 1961, vol. 3, p. 5-17 Kidiraliev A. K., Himalayan and Bearded vultures in Tian-Shan. Rare and little-studied birds of Central Asia. Tashkent, 1990. p.69-72 Birds of Kyrgyzstan. Group of co-authors, vol. 1, 229p., vol. 2, 273 p., Frunze, 1959-1960
Contributors: Data-sheet compiled on 15-Mar-2006 by V. I. Toropova, received by BirdLife Cambridge May 2008, translated by Tsovinar Hovhannisyan in summer 2010, entered into WBDB by Rory McCann in autumn 2010.