The Baikalsky Nature Reserve is situated on the south bank of the Baikal, within the mountain system of the Khamar-Daban Range.

The state reserve was found in 1969, and further, it was awarded the Biosphere status and included into the international net of the protected territories. The total reserve’s square is 166 thousand hectares. The main objects of its function are investigation of the nature processes without any human intervention into them, recuperation and preservation of the nature complexes of the Baikal’s southern coast, and enrichment with the hunting-trade types of fauna of the surroundings.

The most part of the reserve’s territory is covered with mountains of a highly developed net of rivers and lakes. Only the petty part of the reserve is represented by the terrace of Pribaikalia with the numerous sphagnum bogs there. A plenty of cirques, trough valleys and smoothed form of relief reminds of the long-standing glaciations influence.

The reserve’s area possesses asymmetrical form on account of the Khamar-Daban Range spread from the west to the east. The highest points of its central part reach 2000-2300 m above the sea level. The near location of the Lake along with the range’s altitude    made a certain influence on the plant life formation within the reserve as well as on its climate diversity.

The average air temperature at the Baikal’s shoreline in July runs to +14°С, and the average annual temperature that equals to -0,7°С. By the way, the average annual temperature in mountains differs, and it is -6°С, in June +18+19°С, and in January -26-27°С.

The vegetation on the territory of the reserve performs strikingly expressed high-altitude zone. Firstly, there is a permeated with the sun light birth grove of the Pribaikalia’s terrace. Then, the terraces are replaced by the mountain-forest belt with a characteristic dark-coniferous taiga consisted of cedar and silver fir.

Upper to the slope the impassable taiga cedes its place to the cedar forests and park plants that reduce in its amount within the territory of the abundant wetness, peat bogged glades overgrown with sedge and hellebore as well. This landscape, in its turn, changes into the Alpine meadows with the brightly orange glades of globe-flowers.

The highest range points belong to the tundra with its unprepossessing and poor verdure consisted of moss, lichen as well as dwarf births. There opened a fascinating view of the Baikalsky Reserve with its rough rivers, waterfalls, lakes, plenty of meadows as well as the Prubaikalia’s taiga from that altitude.

Among the reserve’s growing plants, a great many are relic and endemic as well. Besides, more than 100 species refer to the herbs. As for the animal world of the reserve, it is diverse and curious enough. Over 300 types of the vertebrates inhabit its territory. The noble deer that are the most numerous representatives of the reserve’s hoof animals, pasture on the succulent grass of the Alpine meadows. Upper in the tundra, on the big snow crests the reindeer find salvation from the blood-suckers insects. Apart the above mentioned animals there are met also elks, musk-deer, roes as well as wild boars. Among the big predators wolves and brown beers most frequently are met in the reserve, while, the rarest ones are lynx and glutton. Sables, squirrels, ground-squirrels and minks as well live in all part of the reserve. There are even can be seen some rare types of small animals such as vair, mouse hare and bats as well.

It is impossible to create the whole picture of the forest without mentioning the birds that are living there. The Baikalsky Reserve possesses a bird diversity of over 260 species.  And as for the composed animals, there are met frogs, asps and copperhead snake. But the most numerous group within the reserve is the group of insects. They are everywhere: in the air, on the land, above the water, and in the soil as well.

In order to carry out the long-term observations on the reserve’s life, the scientific permanent establishments are placed within. The Baikalsky Reserve is a usual practical work base for the students from the different higher-education institutions of the country.

The Baikalo-Lensky Nature Reserve is situated on the northwestern shore of the Baikal and embraces the basin of the Upper Lena along with its inflows – the rivers Kirenga, the Tongoda, the Maly and Bolshoy Annoy that have their beginning in the Baikalsky Range. The reserve involves the Baikal’s coast of 100 km length, from the river Kheyrem up to Elokhin Cape. The reserve was founded in 1986 in order to preservethe natural complexes of the northern Baikal area.  Its square equals to 659919 hectares. It is considered to be the biggest protected environmental zone of the Baikal. It occupies 14th place all over Russia. The Lena heads the list by its length of 4400km, and it lies in 10th one in the world’s list. The boundary between the Irkutsk region and the Buryat Republic places along Elokhin Cape.

The main part of the reserve’s territory is represented by the taiga forests of diverse types with the predominance of cedar, fir, silver fir, and larch-tree as well. The eastern slopes are covered with light-coniferous taiga consisted of pine and larch, and poplar grows in the valleys. Upper the forest zone sub-barren elfincedar boscage is spread, and in the barren belt – tundra with high-mountain meadows.

At the shore of Lake Baikal the fragments of the ancient relict steppes are preserved there. The square covered with forest is follows as 570 thousand hectares, and the meadows occupies 1.5 thousand hectares, and the reservoirs – 1.6 thousand hectares.

Flora of the reserve counts over 800 species, among them 36 types are endemic for Siberia, 9 types are included in Red Data Book. Besides, there are 230 types of mosses, 248 types of lichens, and about 10 types of mushrooms are represented there.

About 48 types of mammals inhabit the reserve, along with 240 species birds. The reserve is also famous with the high number of beers. For this very reason one of the reserve’s section is named like “Coast of Brown Beers”. Moreover, the reserve is constantly inhabited by reindeer, the Baikal Nerpa, Siberian stag and black-capped marmot. There are can be met such rare birds as white-tailed sea-eagle, black stork, white-winged scoter, grey crane, double snipe and other. The valuable types of fish are living in the reservoirs, among them- Eastern Siberian grayling, lenock, taimen, sig, and tugun as well.

The Baikalo-Lensky reserve possesses a great many of the attractive for the tourists places, for instance, the Lena’s head (at the distance of 12 km from the Lake shore through the pass of Solntsepad’), Cape Ryty (“Escavated”) that is a sacred coast point for the locals with enormous gorge, the mountain peaks of the Baikalsky Range represent the remnants of the ancient volcanoes on the Earth.

The Barguzinsky State Nature Reserve is located in the Transbaikalia, on the western slopes of the Barguzin Mountain Range, which frames the lake. The Barguzinsky Reserve is the oldest and the unique state reserve in Russia, which was created before the Great October Socialist Revolution in 1917.

The main reason to create the reserve here was a dramatic decline in population of the fur-bearing animals, in particular, sables. To prevent total disappearance of these animals the government issued a decree to make this area protected. As soon as the reserve was created, the natives called Evenks moved to the Tompa River, to the north of the reserve and neighboring public hunters’ plot. Barguzinsky Nature Reserve is one of the territories inscribed on the UNESCO’s World Cultural and Natural Heritage list.

The reserve is located along the shore and on mountain slopes. There are forests, Alpine meadows, high-mountain barrens on its territory. The highest elevation above sea level is 2652 metres. The main mountain range looks like the Alps: the range’s sharp tops, rocky crests and pyramidal peaks, which are snow-covered for most of the year, often fall into cliffs. There are no real glaciers on the Barguzin Range but snow accumulating on the northern slopes sometimes doesn’t have enough time to melt before winter came round.

The Barguzinsky Reserve is the coldest spot of the Baikal coast. Average annual air temperature in the village of Davsha, the central office of the reserve, is -3,8°C. The climate conditions of this spot are similar to the north regions of the Sea of Okhotsk.

The Baikal ice disappears in the first decade of July, the approximate date of freeze-up is the 1st of January.

On the territory of the reserve the vegetation is heterogeneous and represents a mix of dark coniferous taiga, which is a characteristic of the Altai and Sayan Mountains, and bright leafy-bearing forests of Eastern Siberia.

There are a lot of different species on the North-East Baikal area territories which are in need of a special protection. The vegetation near thermal springs is especially unique. There are thirty species, which are met nowhere else.

Plenty of cowberries, blueberries, currants, raspberries, and huge cedar forests. Such abundance of berries and nuts feeds a large number of animals, especially brown bears. Beside a brown bear about 40 different species of typical for taiga forests mammals live in the reserve. The best known are squirrel, chipmunk, flying squirrel, musk deer, sable, lemming, Siberian weasel, red deer, roe deer, wolf, fox, ermine, wolverine, hare, lynx, elk. Lake Baikal is famous for its endemic seal called nerpa, whose ancestors lived in northern seas.

The reserve is rich in birds and some of them are quite rare – white-tailed eagle, osprey, black stork and merganser.

Among amphibians are frogs, lizards, salamanders, and 4 species of snakes – grass snake, Pallas’ coluber, viper and copperhead snake.

In the nearshore zone of the lake there are various fishes such as omul (Arctic cisco), cisco, black and white grayling, lenok, taimen, and rarely Baikal sturgeon.

Nowadays, in order to protect the unique plants and animals of the reserve, any activity including organization of tourist routes on its territory is forbidden. To stay on the territory of the reserve it is necessary to have a special permission and to move only if accompanied by a huntsman.