Kartsakhi Managed Reserve

The Unique Nature at Kartsakhi Managed Reserve

Javakheti is unlike any other region in Georgia. Besides being Georgia’s coldest inhabited place, it also has more lakes - both large and small - than anywhere else in the country. The lakes of Javakheti are famous for the diversity of their bird world, with more than 140 species sighted in the area.

In the winter the Kartsakhi Lake is frozen over for a long time, but the region, completely white with snow, is all the more impressive for it.

Kartsakhi is a transboundary lake, located on the border between Georgia and the Republic of Turkey.

Besides the subalpine forests of the untouched slopes on the border and the artificially created pine groves (Pinus kochiana), there are no other trees to be found in the region.

The Fauna of Kartsakhi Managed Reserve

There are as many as sixty species of birds inside the Kartsakhi Managed Reserve. This area is well-known for the Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus). Whole colonies of pelicans can be seen here in the spring and summer, and they can be watched from special observation towers.