Residents create a community micro-reserve for rare birds at Issyk-Kul

Residents of a village on Kyrgyzstan’s Issyk-Kul have begun building a protected “quiet” zone for rare birds, using their own efforts to create a community micro-reserve along Tyup Bay.

The initiative was presented during Bird Fest 2026, held for three days in late August in Yntymak village. About 50 people took part, including local residents, schoolchildren, ornithologists, specialists from the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Biology and community representatives.

Tyup Bay is an important wintering and nesting site for waterbirds and birds living near water. Ornithologists and the eBird international platform have recorded up to 280 species there. Nine are listed in Kyrgyzstan’s Red Book, including the white-tailed eagle, eastern imperial eagle, bar-headed goose, demoiselle crane, whooper swan, steppe eagle and black stork.

“We began noticing that huge numbers of beautiful birds, including white swans and cranes, stop in our bay for the winter. We decided that we needed to protect them and create conditions for their safe existence and reproduction,” said Bolot Bayseitov, head of the Kуштар public association.

Activists say human pressure on the birds has increased in recent years. They cite poaching, illegal sea buckthorn cutting, uncontrolled vehicle access to the shore and livestock grazing that has damaged nests. In response, residents have fenced 1,100 meters of shoreline and installed video surveillance. Volunteers, schoolchildren and the Camp Alatoo team have planted 1,500 sea buckthorn saplings to strengthen the shore and provide natural shelter for birds and other animals.

The project has also organized educational sessions for residents and teachers. Twenty biology and geography teachers from Jeti-Oguz district and Yntymak took part in an environmental seminar and practical activities. Organizers say signs of progress are already visible: disturbance has declined and residents have become more careful with the bay’s wildlife. The next steps are to develop ecotourism and birdwatching and secure official status for the community micro-reserve. The initiative has received support from the GEF Small Grants Programme, implemented by UNDP through COMDEKS.

“

We began noticing that huge numbers of beautiful birds, including white swans and cranes, stop in our bay for the winter. We decided that we needed to protect them and create conditions for their safe existence and reproduction.