50 Tenge Crested Spoonbill

Part of Kazakhstan's ongoing "Red Book" wildlife series, this issue highlights species listed in the country's national conservation registry — a program the National Bank has used since the early 2000s to draw domestic attention to endangered fauna. The crested spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) nests in the Ili River delta and around the Aral Sea basin, both ecosystems under severe stress from Soviet-era irrigation diversion that has never fully recovered.