Shorsky National Park is a forested, mountainous area in southwestern Siberia, where the West Siberian Plain meets the South Siberian Mountains. It is representative of areas with dark taiga tree cover. With an area of 1,614 square miles (4,180 km2), the park covers over a third of Tashtagolsky District at the southern end of Kemerovo Oblast, about 300 kilometres (190 mi) south of the city of Kemerovo. The area is the home of the Shors people, and has historically been associated with mining and logging industries before being established as a protected area in 1989.
Shushensky Bor National Park consists of two representative forests in the extreme southwest of Siberia, in the northern foothills of the Western Sayan Mountains. The northern section is forest-steppe in character, while the southern section is mountain conifer forest. The southern section is bordered on two sides by the Yenisei river reservoir behind the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in Russia. The forest has both high biodiversity value and recreational value for hikers and tourists. It is located in the Shushensky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Azas Nature Reserve is a Russian 'Zapovednik', located in the central part of the Todzha basin of south-central Asia about 500 km west of Lake Baikal. The reserve stretches along the Azas River, and is situated in the Todzhinsky District of Tuva.
Altai Nature Reserve is a Russian zapovednik in the Altai Mountains of south Siberia, Russia. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Golden Mountains of Altai", recognized as an area of high biodiversity and isolation from human intrusion. It is also included in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. The Altai Reserve includes the 30 km (19-mile) east bank of Lake Teletskoye and stretches 230 km into the high mountains to the southeast of the lake. It is situated in Ulagansky District and Turochaksky District in the north and east of the Altai Republic.
Ilmen Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' that was created by decree of Vladimir Lenin, in 1920 as a mineralogical nature reserve. It is the site of deposits of many rare-earth minerals - 16 minerals were first discovered here, including Ilmenite, Monazite, Cancrinite, and Samarskite-(Y). There have been over 400 mines in the area over the years. The Reserve's geological museum is one of the largest in Russia. The forest cover is pine and larch forest on low hills of the Ilmensky Mountains and foothill ridges on east side of the south Ural Mountains. The reserve is situated just north and east of the city of Miass, in the Chebarkulsky District of Chelyabinsk Oblast. It is also 20 kkm east of Taganay National Park and 75 km west of Chelyabinsk.
Denezhkin Kamen Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik', centered on Denezhkin Stone Mountain, on the eastern slope of the Central Ural Mountains. The mountain is one of the highest peaks in the Urals ; and most of the reserve's terrain is West Siberian taiga and some tundra. Denezhkin Kamen is the only nature reserve in the Ural east-slope watershed, and protects relatively pristine forest. There are old-growth stands of trees, no settlements, and no logging roads on the site. The reserve is situated about 400 km north of Yekaterinburg, in the Severouralsk city district in the north of Sverdlovsk Oblast.
Shulgan-Tash Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' in the western foothills of the Southern Ural Mountains. The terrain is one of heavy forest and karst topography; the site contains some of the oldest caves of human habitation. The reserve has 13 full-time "bortniks" - practitioners of the ancient apiculture (bee-keeping) of tree-hollow cultivation of wild honeybees. The reserve is situated in the Burzyansky District of Bashkortostan. It is about 40 km southeast of the District town of Starosubkhangulovo. In 2012, the reserve was added to the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve "Bashkir Ural", in particular for protection of the Burzyuan bee, which has been cultivated since ancient times by the local Bashkir people.
The Transbaikal conifer forests ecoregion covers a 1,000 km by 1,000 km region of mountainous southern taiga stretching east and south from the shores of Lake Baikal in the Southern Siberia region of Russia, and including part of northern Mongolia. Historically, the area has been called "Dauria", or Transbaikal. It is in the Palearctic realm, and mostly in the boreal forests/taiga biome with a subarctic, humid climate. It covers 200,465 km2 (77,400 sq mi).
Sayano-Shushenski Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' reserve in a remote area of the West Sayan Mountains of south Siberia. It is on the southern bank of the Yenisei River along the Sayano-Shushenskoye reservoir. The reserve thus protects a large section of the wooded, mountainous territory above the reservoir created by the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam, the largest power plant in Russia. Both the reserve and the dam were established 1976, and a major purpose of the reserve besides conservation is the study of the ecological effects of a large reservoir on the local ecology. The reserve covers an area of 390,368 ha (1,507.22 sq mi). It is situated in the Shushensky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Khakasski Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' covering two large mountain areas, and a cluster of seven steppe sites located within the left bank of the Minusinsk depression. The reserve is situated in the Tashtypsky District of Khakassia. It was originally created to preserve steppe ecosystems, wetlands and waterfowl nesting sites, and a historical complex of monuments and cemeteries from the 4-11 centuries BC. The reserve is particularly noted for its variety of large lakes on the Yenisei River migration route for birds. The current configuration of protected sectors was established in 1999, and covers a total area of 2,675.58 km2 (1,033.05 sq mi).
Kuznetsk Alatau Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' on the Kuznetsk Alatau, a mountain ridge in the Altai-Sayan mountain region in southwestern Siberia. The Kuznetsk Alatau consists of several ranges of medium height, between which there are river valleys. The reserve is in the watershed of the Tom River and the Chuly River. It is spread over three districts of Kemerovo Oblast: Tisulsky District, Mezhdurechensky District, and Novokuznetsky District. The reserve was established in 1989 and covers an area of 412,900 ha (1,594 sq mi).
Dzherginsky Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik', located about 100 km east of the northern section of Lake Baikal. It covers the source and upper reaches of the Barguzin River, the second largest tributary to Lake Baikal, and is at the junction of three mountain ranges - the Barguzin Range to the west of the reserve, the Ikat Range and the Southern Muya Range. The reserve's mountainous territory is dominated by larch forests. It is situated in the Kurumkansky District of Buryatia. The nearest city, Ulan-Ude, is 560 km to the south. The reserve was formally established in 1992 to protect the biodiversity of the upper Barguzin valley, and to study natural processes of the area. It covers an area of 238,088 hectares (919.26 sq mi).
Vitim Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' in the mountains 400 km northeast of Lake Baikal in the Irkutsk region of Siberia. It covers the upper reaches of the Vitim River, a left tributary of the Lena River. The reserve protects a wide variety high-altitude, continental climate flora and fauna complexes: larch taiga, cedar thickets, mountain tundra, and sub-alpine meadows of the Delyun-Uran and Kodar Mountains. The reserve is located in the southeast of the Bodaybinsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, 150 km east of the regional city of Bodaybo. It was formally established in 1982, and covers 585,838 ha (2,261.93 sq mi).
The Urals montane tundra and taiga ecoregion covers the main ridge of the Ural Mountains - a 2,000 km (north-south) by 300 km (west-east) region. The region is on the divide between European and Asian ecoregions, and also the meeting point of tundra and taiga. It is in the Palearctic realm, and mostly in the Boreal forests/taiga ecoregion with a Humid continental climate, cool summer climate. It covers 174,565 km2 (67,400 sq mi).
The Altai montane forest and forest steppe ecoregion covers patches of the subalpine forest belt on the Altai Mountains, crossing the border region where Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China meet. The region has high biodiversity, as it is located in transition zones between different ecoregions, altitudes, and climate zones. It is in the Palearctic realm, with a Cold semi-arid climate. It covers 35,199,998 km2 (13,590,795 sq mi).
The Da Hinggan-Dzhagdy Mountains conifer forests ecoregion covers the Greater Khingan Mountains of Northeast China, and across the border north into the Russian Far East where it follows the mountain ridge for another 500 km to the east. The mountain forests exhibit a floral community called "Daurian flora", a combination of the Siberian taiga to the north and the Manchurian floral types to the south. The eastern slopes are steep and drained by many rivers, the western slopes are gentler, and there are grasslands on some slopes. The ecoregion is in the Palearctic realm, with a subarctic climate. It covers 35,199,998 km2 (13,590,795 sq mi).
The Sayan montane conifer forests ecoregion covers the mid-elevation levels of the Sayan Mountains, the high mountain range between the taiga of Siberia, Russia to the north, and the steppes of Mongolia to the south. The slopes of the mountains at the mid-altitudes are covered by Temperate coniferous forest. The ecoregion is in the Palearctic realm, with a cold semi-arid climate. It covers 35,741,835 km2 (13,800,000 sq mi).
The Kazakh forest steppe ecoregion is a long thin strip of transition zone between the forested taiga of Siberian Russia, and the Kazakh steppe to the south. The ecoregion stretches over 2,000 km from the southern Ural mountains in the west to the foothills of Altai mountains in the east, yet averages only 200 km from south to north across its length. Because the region is farther inland than European forest steppe, and some 300 to 500 km farther north, the climate is more continental and with less precipitation the tree cover more sparse. The ecoregion is in the Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, and the Palearctic realm, with a Humid Continental climate. It covers 420,614 km2 (162,400 sq mi).
Salair National Park is located on the west slope of the Salair Ridge, which separates Altai Krai from Kemerovo Oblast. The low mountains are covered with coniferous forest, while the non-park surroundings to the west are steppe and forest steppe that has mostly been converted to agriculture. Because of its warm, humid summers, scientists have referred to Salair as the "rainforest of Siberia", with resulting high biodiversity and relict plants preserved from the pre-glacial period. The park was officially created in 2020; it is located in the districts of Zarinsk, Togulsky, Yeltsovsky and Soltonsky of Altai Krai.
Zigalga National Park is located on the high Zigalga Ridge of the Southern Ural Mountains in Russia, on the transition between Europe and Siberia. Much of the territory is untouched by human activity and so supports Ice Age relict floral communities through all altitude zones - pine and birch forest, dark coniferous taiga, alpine meadows and mountain tundra. The park was officially created in 2019. The park is located in the Katav-Ivanovsky District of Chelyabinsk Oblast.
