Tunkinsky National Park is celebrating its 35th anniversary

Tunkinsky National Park is celebrating its 35th anniversary. Tunkinsky National Park is a partner of the Irbis Association in the efforts to conserve the snow leopard in Buryatia. This year, the protected area in the heart of the Eastern Sayan Mountains marks 35 years since its establishment. In this anniversary year, with the support of the Irbis Association, construction has begun in Tunkinsky Park on an ecological trail called "In the Footsteps of the Snow Leopard." The route will be 250 metres long. Information boards will be installed along the trail, and the main highlight will be stylised prints of the snow leopard’s paw tracks. The trail will become part of the "House of the Snow Leopard" ecological and ethnographic complex. As part of the preparations for the opening, inspectors from four forest districts, under the guidance of Deputy Director Vitaly Spiridonov, planted seedlings along the future route in the village of Kyren. In 2026, the Interregional Irbis Association provided Tunkinsky National Park with comprehensive material and technical support. As part of this assistance to the specially protected natural area, the park’s staff received mobile phones and radios for prompt communication in hard‑to‑reach mountainous areas, uniforms, and feed for the horses used in patrols and expedition trips. In addition, a modern fire safety video surveillance system was provided to strengthen fire prevention measures in the park. This equipment will enable round‑the‑clock monitoring of the situation and allow for a rapid response to potential fires, which is especially important for the mountain and forest areas of the Eastern Sayans. The Interregional Irbis Association has been supporting Tunkinsky National Park for many years. With the Association’s assistance, the park implements key nature conservation and educational projects: scientific expeditions to study the snow leopard and the Siberian ibex, conservation patrols, festivals and campaigns. The Irbis Association also provided the national park with modern camera traps equipped with solar panels and memory cards. Furthermore, within the framework of a project to assess the population of the manul, the Association, together with the Mars company, is providing methodological and technical support.

On behalf of the entire Interregional Irbis Association, we sincerely congratulate the team of Tunkinsky National Park on its 35th anniversary! We wish our colleagues safe patrols, new scientific discoveries, dedicated specialists, courteous visitors and successful eco‑lessons! May the "Land of the Snow Leopard" flourish, and may the noble cause of preserving the unique nature of the Sayan Mountains continue to inspire new generations! Tunkinsky National Park was established on 27 May 1991 to preserve the unique nature of the Tunkinsky Valley, located between the ranges of the Eastern Sayan and Khamar‑Daban mountains. This decision was historic: it halted the threat of an ecological disaster caused by the activities of more than 40 logging enterprises in the late 1980s. Tunkinsky became the first national park in Russia whose boundaries completely coincided with the boundaries of an administrative district. Today, it protects an area of over 1.1 million hectares, part of which is included in the Baikal section of the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. This protected land is home to many rare and endangered species. It is inhabited by the snow leopard — the symbol of the national park — as well as the Siberian ibex, manul, forest reindeer, golden eagles, black vultures and white‑tailed eagles. The park’s flora includes more than 1,200 plant species. Every year, up to 250,000 people visit the Tunkinsky Valley; for them, visitor centres, a yurt complex, an interactive museum and ecological trails are available. The project is implemented with financial support from VTB and the "Living Nature and the World" Foundation.