The territory of the reserve is scattered throughout the basin and is divided into 6 geographical areas: the Northern coast of the lake.

This territory, inscribed on the Ramsar Convention's Internationally Important Wetlands List in 2009, is the nesting habitat for 203 bird species out of the 342 registered here.

More than half of these nesting species (110) are water birds, 22 of which are rare and endangered and are listed on the Red Data Books of Kazakhstan and IUCN.

These include the Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus), the Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), the Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) and the Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca), among others.

[3] The principle industries of the Alakol district are large sugar and fish factories, tank farms and agro corporations.