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
Taklamakan Desert to regard the Taklamakan Desert as separate and independent from the Gobi Desert region to its east. The People's Republic of China has constructed two cross-desert highways. The Tarim Desert Highway links the cities of Hotan (on the southern edge) and Luntai (on the northern edge), and the Bayingol to Ruoqiang road crosses the desert to the east. In recent years, the desert has expanded in some areas, its sands enveloping farms and villages as a result of desertification. The Golmud-Korla Railway (presently, under construction; expected completion time, 2019) will cross the Taklamakan as well. Because it lies in the