Russian saline lakes Elton and Baskunchak as challengers to the UNESCO world heritage list

Anotace: The article considers the main aspects of the nature of the saline lakes of the southeastern part of Europe, located on the Caspian lowland: Elton and Baskunchak, the genesis of their basins, landscapes and economic loads. A brief analysis of the nature and geo-ecology of saline lakes is carried out in a comparative aspect. The conclusion is made about the need for further protection, both of zonal vegetation, and especially of salt deposits of the lakes. It is stated that in this aspect the “Bogdo-Baskunchak” State Reserve and the Elton Nature Park have been created. The idea of creating the "Elton-Baskunchak" cluster biosphere reserve is proposed. We believe that their landscape may be of interest to European readers and scientists. The main methods are: expeditionary method: automobile and walking routes; paper method, including processing of the collected field material, as well as decoding of space and aerial photographs, and analysis of published sources. In practical terms, the creation of a cluster reserve allows resolving the geo-environmental and economic problems and preservation of the unique landscapes for future generations.