A desert-fringed wetland reserve at the northern edge of the Junggar Basin, shaped by the Irtysh and Kran rivers.
Altay Kokesu Wetland National Nature Reserve
Altay Kokesu Wetland National Nature Reserve is a nationally protected wetland complex in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of northwestern China, lying southwest of Altay City at the southern foot of the Altai Mountains and the northern fringe of the Junggar Basin. Covering more than 300 square kilometers, it protects one of the largest wetlands within the Altay grasslands, formed where the Irtysh River and its tributary the Kran River interact across a long, narrow desert plain.
The reserve is notable for the unusual coexistence of desert, steppe, meadow, marsh, and forest patches within a single protected unit, supported by patchy soil mosaics of brown calcareous soil, meadow soil, aeolian sandy soil, and peat-rich bog soil. Spring snowmelt swells the Irtysh and periodically floods back into the wetland, expanding open water and replenishing habitat for a wide community of plants, birds, fish, and mammals.
Several nationally protected species depend on the area, including the saker falcon, golden eagle, white-shouldered eagle, black stork, and great bustard, alongside endemic plant species such as Burqin willow and Altay hawthorn. The reserve's value is heightened by its fragile hydrology, situated in a region where Atlantic moisture is blocked by the Altai range and annual evaporation greatly exceeds precipitation.
