Covering an area of approximately 200,000 hectares, the park is situated in the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains, south of Almaty, and stretches between the Turgen gorge in the east and the Chemolgan river in the west.
[7] The park plays a role in the conservation of the region's natural heritage, protecting both flora and fauna in the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains.
Regular scientific research on vegetation cover, forest typology, birds and mammals began to be conducted in this territory.
In 1987, the Department of Biosphere and Ecology of the Kazakhstan Committee for the UNESCO program "Man and the Biosphere" at the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR within the program "Development of Protected Areas in Kazakhstan" prepared a scientific rationale for the "General Scheme of Development and Location of Natural Reserve Fund of the Kazakh SSR until 2005".
This document proposed the creation of Zailiyskiy State National Nature Park on the area of 280 thousand hectares.
In the high-mountainous part of the Zailiyskiy Alatau at an altitude of 3750 m, the climate is harsh, and there is a lot of precipitation - 800–1300 mm, mainly in the form of snow.
[citation needed] Snow cover according to long-term observations in the foothills (850 m) is established on December 6, in the middle mountains (1200–2500 m) - a month earlier, in the highlands (3000 m) - on October 21.
[citation needed] The Zailiyskiy Alatau stands as a high forward barrier on the way of the northern and northwestern moisture-carrying air masses, which freely penetrate through the main valleys deep into the mountains, causing a clear differentiation of natural landscapes at altitude.
The territory of the park covers low-mountain, mid-mountain and high-mountain landscapes, which reflect the layered structure of the mountains.
In the lowlands there are Ostrovskiy tulip, Mushketov's curlicue, Alberta iris, Sivers apple tree, Altai holosemianus; in the middlelands - orange jaundice, Semenov's tufted shagreen, Alma mater, cortuza Semenova; in the highlands - Falconer liverwort, Tianshan Siberia, Kumbel hawk, Schmangauzia asteriata, Sossurea wrapped.
From the set of useful plants of great interest is a group of fodder plants (more than 80 species): cobresia hairy, sedge narrow dense, fescue Krylov, bluegrass alpine and meadow bluegrass, fescue Tianshan, hedgehog, short-legged pinnate, species regeneration, clover, pea, chinna.
Widespread medicinal plants: fir, yarrow, mother and stepmother, rose hips, joester, valerian, juniper, dandelion, plantain, etc.
Numerous ornamental plants: primroses, waterspouts, tulips, irises, small petals, bluebells, gentians, violets, different types of trees and shrubs.
The others belong to the class of insects: the Notable Hornbill, the Pretty Ladybird (order of dragonflies), the Short-winged Bolivaria (mantis), the Steppe Dabbit, the Semenov's Daisy, the Ershov's Jaundice, the Bedromylius, the Patrician.
[14] The relict mossy Chinturgen spruce forests are also a natural monument, where islands of permafrost with ice thickness of 2–3 m are preserved under the cover of moss at a depth of 30–40 cm.
The high-altitude landscape, which resembles the cold desert of the Inner Tien Shan, which is located along the axial part of the ridge at the Pass of "Prokhodnoy", is unique.