Natural Recreation Potential of the West Kazakhstan Region of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites Year XIII, vol. 32, no. 4, 2020, p.1355-1361 ISSN 2065-1198, E-ISSN 2065-0817 DOI 10.30892/gtg.32424-580 NATURAL RECREATION POTENTIAL OF THE WEST KAZAKHSTAN REGION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN Bibigul CHASHINA L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Satpayev Str., 2, 010008 Nur-Sultan, Republic of Kazakhstan, e-mail: [email protected] Nurgul RAMAZANOVA L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Satpayev Str., 2, 010008 Nur-Sultan, Republic of Kazakhstan, e-mail: [email protected] Emin ATASOY Bursa Uludag University, 6059, Gorukle, Bursa, Turkye, e-mail: [email protected] Zharas BERDENOV* L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Satpayev Str., 2, 010008 Nur-Sultan, Republic of Kazakhstan, e-mail: [email protected] Dorina Camelia ILIEȘ University of Oradea, Faculty of Geography, Tourism and Sport, Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, Oradea, Romania, e-mail: [email protected] Citation: Chashina, B., Ramazanova, N., Atasoy, E., Berdenov, Zh., & Ilieș, D.C. (2020). NATURAL RECREATION POTENTIAL OF THE WEST KAZAKHSTAN REGION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN. GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites, 32(4), 1355–1361. https://doi.org/10.30892/gtg.32424-580 Abstract: This article is an attempt to assess the natural and recreational potential of the West Kazakhstan region. This technique consists of different stages: assessment of the territory concerning the recreational potential, according to the physical and geographi cal conditions; determination of administrative districts (units) within each of the recreational development zones; inventory of specially protected natural areas.The main criterion for the quantitative assessment was the presence of specially protected natural areas, their number and occupied area. In the course of the study, the analysis of natural and recreational resources was carried out by zones of potential recreationa l development, and the highest priority zones of recreational development were identified. Key words: quantitative assessment of natural and recreational potential specially protected natural areas, the West Kazakhstan region, natural and recreational zones, natural and recreational resources * * * * * * INTRODUCTION As world practice shows, one of the most effective and promising ways to preserve the pristine uniqueness of natural landscapes and geosystems is rational tourism and recreation nature management. In order to optimize the use of natural and recreational resources and with account taken of the anthropogenic load of recreation and tourism, an assessment of the natural and recreational potential of the territory is carried out. Assessment issues were dealt with in different periods by Russian (Preobrazhensky, 1975; Mironenko and Tverdokhlebov, 1981; Kuskov, 2005) and Kazakhstani scientists (Erdavletov, 2000; Berdenov, 2016), and by foreign authors as well (Mitchell, 1979; Page, 2011). Due to the physical and geographical location, the peculiarities of the geological and geomorphological structure and landscape diversity, the West Kazakhstan region has sufficient natural resource potential for the development of recreation and such types of tourism as ecotourism, "green" (agritourism), water tourism and other types. The works of the following scientists are devoted to the study of the landscape biodiversity of the geosystems of the West Kazakhstan region: Chibilev (1987, 2008); Petrenko and Fartushina (2001); Darbayeva (2020); Ramazanov (1998); Ilieș and Grama, 2010; Ilieș et al., (2017); Dzhanaleyeva and Ramazanova (2012, 2019), Azhayev et al., 2020; Suleimenov et al., 2020. Natural and recreational resources as a basis for the development of tourism and recreation are considered in the works of Akhmedenov and Svanbayeva (2016), Nuruly and Aktymbayeva (2017), Deac et al., 2019; Lincu et al., 2018 and others. MATERIALS AND METHODS The methodology of assessing the natural and recreational potential of the region allows us to identify the most valuable territories of the region from the recreational point of view. For this purpose, the entire territory is divided into several districts (zones), characterized by a certain number of territorial and recreational features (Wendt, 2020; Beketova, 2019; Ilieș et al., 2018; 2020). As a methodological instrument for assessing the tourist and recreational potential of the study area, the methodology for calculating the estimated indicator of the natural and recreational indicator of the territory, developed by Yegorova and Motrich (2010) was selected. This technique consists of several stages: 1st stage of the assessment – the differentiation of the territory into zones of potential recreational development according to the peculiarities of physical and geographical conditions; 2nd stage – determination of administrative districts (units) within each of the recreational development zones; 3rd stage – determination of the list of specially protected natural areas; * Corresponding author http://gtg.webhost.uoradea.ro/ Bibigul CHASHINA, Nurgul RAMAZANOVA, Emin ATASOY, Zharas BERDENOV, Dorina Camelia ILIEȘ 4th stage – a quantitative assessment of the natural and recreational potential (Yegorova, 2010); 5th stage – counting and summing up for each of the recreational areas. STUDY OBJECT The object of the study is the West Kazakhstan region with an area of 151.339 km2, which is located in the north-west of the country and borders the Russian Federation in the north. The region was formed at the junction of such large physical and geographical countries and provinces as the Obshchy Syrt (southern part) and the Caspian lowland (northern part), which are the constituent provinces of the East European Plain, and the Podural Plateau (Figure 1). Figure 1. Physical map of Kazakhstan (Source: Compiled by the authors, based on SRTM images from 2018) In terms of geosystem-basin relations, the main part of the territory of the West Kazakhstan region is occupied by the basin of the middle course of the Zhaiyk River (Ural), which divides the region into approximately equal parts. The length of the river is 781 km within the region, 1084 km within the country, and the total length is 2428 km (Chibilev, 2008; Kabiyev, 2018). The Zhaiyk River is not only the largest waterway in the region, but also one of the main landscape-forming factors, in the basin of which unique natural complexes have been formed, and water areas are the only spawning ground for sturgeon fish in Eurasia (Chibilev, 1987). The entire floodplain of the Urals is a unique ecological system. A large number of monuments of the South Ural and Caspian nature are concentrated here. The flora and fauna of the Zhaiyk River basin is distinctive and inimitable - there are many relics, endemics, rare and endangered species (Chibilev, 2008; Darbayeva, 2020). RESULTS DISCUSSIONS In accordance with the above stated methodology, the study area should be divided into zones with characteristic natural and recreational resources. During the implementation of the 1st stage of the study, the geomorphological structure of the territory served as the main principle of division into zones, since the relief, being the result of geological-tectonic processes, serves as a frame of landscape diversity. At the same time, the relief itself determines its further development, influences the formations of natural-climatic, hydrographic conditions, as well as the characteristics of the soil and vegetation cover. In general, the surface of the region decreases in the direction from northeast to southwest and is rather clearly divided into five large geomorphological regions (Doskach, 1954): the western part of the Podural Plateau, the southern part of the Obshchy Syrt upland, the Predsyrtovy ledge, the northern part of the Caspian lowland and valley of the middle course of the Zhaiyk (Ural) River in figure 2. In accordance with this, the study area is subdivided into 5 recreational zones. Zone I – the southern part of the Obshchy Syrt in the southeast of the East European Plain, which is characterized by flat, almost undivided watersheds with an absolute height of 200-250 m and flat-topped ridges (Vilesov et al., 2009). Zone II – the western part of the Podural Plateau (Khobdin province of the East European Plain), represented by a tectonic-denudation ledge. The main types of relief are pre-Quaternary structural plains formed on Cretaceous and Paleogene deposits by processes of salt tectonics and denudation (Vilesov et al., 2009). Zone III – an intermediate position between the Obshchy Syrt and the Podural Plateau, on the one hand, and the Caspian lowland, on the other, within absolute heights of 50-100 m. The Predsyrtovy ledge is an inclined deluvial-proluvial accumulative plain, which is divided everywhere by valleys of small rivers, oriented almost strictly from north to south (Amelchenko and Galimov, 2006). Zone IV – the northern part of the Caspian lowland, located below 50 m and gradually decreasing to the south to 0 m, and in some places 1356 Natural Recreation Potential of the West Kazakhstan Region of the Republic of Kazakhstan minus 10 m. Numerous shallow depressions of various origins (swales, limans, sors, depressions, suffusion saucers) and rises (inselbergs, hillocks, ridges) are typical. There are sandy massifs (Amelchenko and Galimov, 2006). Zone V – the valley of the Zhaiyk (Ural) River. The second largest (after the Volga River), which flows into the Caspian,