Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area is a nature reserve in Gobi desert, situated in the south-western part of Mongolia at the border with China. A similar reserve in the Gobi exists further to the west - the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area. Both reserves form one unit, the Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area (SPA), which encompasses a total of 53,000 km. Great Gobi A is one of the last refuges for critically endangered animals, like wild Bactrian camels and Gobi bears. Great Gobi A lies in the southwestern part of Mongolia in
Gurbantünggüt Desert but now has mostly dried out, and the Ailik Lake (), which receives water from the Baiyang River (which in its turn is replenished by the Irtysh–Karamay Canal). China National Highway 216 crosses the desert in the north-south direction, from Altay City to Ürümqi. China National Highway 217 and the Kuytun–Beitun Railway skirt it from the west and northwest. The Ürümqi–Dzungaria Railway reaches into the desert's southeastern corner, known locally as "Jiangjun Gobi" (将军戈壁, "General's Desert"). The climate of the area is temperate, but very continental. The desert's ecological environment is very fragile, and the impact of human activities on