TERRITORIAL EVALUATION OF NATURE RESERVES OF THE ALTAI REGION FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF ORNITOLOGICAL TOURS
Altai Krai is one of the 20 most attractive tourist regions of Russia, takes 2nd place in the Siberian Federal District and is 7th in the ranking of ecologically clean regions of the country. The popularity of eco-tourism at the international and Russian levels is largely related to the spread of birdwatching tours. In recent years, bird watching has been a growing interest among amateur bird watchers in the Altai Territory. Birds are a necessary element of ecosystems and decoration of the region, giving special beauty to natural landscapes. The region is notable for its unique variety of natural conditions, characterized by a contrasting climate, and a large number of rare birds included in the national and regional red books. There are mountains, plains, streams and reservoirs, a variety of forests, including ribbon forests and black taiga. The tourist attractiveness of the region can be expanded on the basis of ornithological tours, causing the greatest interest in specially protected natural areas where corners of wildlife have been preserved. State nature reserves are the basic component of the entire system of specially protected natural territories of the Altai Territory, as they occupy more than 90 % of their area (707.2 thousand ha). Most of the reserves (582.2 thousand ha) is located in the tape and Priobsky forests, in the forests of the Salair Ridge and in the taiga area of the foothills of Altai (21 of 38 reserves). The article presents the results of a territorial assessment of 13 wildlife reserves and one natural monument, as well as generalized information on the main rare species of birds in these protected areas. The territorial advantage in organizing ornithological tours has reserves located in the tape forests: Aleusky, Zavyalovsky, Kasmalinsky, Kulundinsky and Mamontovsky due to the large variety of rare large species of birds of prey and the relatively developed road network.