Tajik National Park (; ) is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

and

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

in eastern

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

. It was established in 1992 and expanded in 2001 to include parts of the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a Mountain range, range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia. They are located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun Mountains, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya ...

, the third-highest mountain system in the world. The park covers or a little over 18 percent of Tajikistan's total area.

History

From 1989 to 1992, Anvar J. Buzurukov (as the head of the Protected Areas Department of the Ministry of the Environment) initiated, planned and led (under the international scientific camp "Pamir-90") scientific feasibility studies towards establishing the first national and natural parks in the

Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, also commonly known as Soviet Tajikistan, the Tajik SSR, TaSSR, or simply Tajikistan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1929 to 1991 in Central Asia. The Tajik Rep ...

. An area of was designated Tajik National Park by Decision No. 267 of the Tajikistan government on 20 July 1992. A year before the same team established the first nature reserve in Tajikistan, Shirkent Nature Park. In 2001 the area of Tajik National Park was increased to by the Order of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan No. 253.

Ecology and wildlife

The national park features a mix of

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

and alpine regions. It has long cold winters and cool summers, with an average annual rainfall of 12.7 cm. Species known to live in the national park include the

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

markhor The markhor (''Capra falconeri'') is a large wild ''Capra'' (goat) species native to South Asia and Central Asia, mainly within Pakistan, the Karakoram range, parts of Afghanistan, and the Himalayas. It is listed on the IUCN Red List as Near ...

Marco Polo sheep The Marco Polo sheep (''Ovis ammon polii'') is a subspecies of argali sheep, named after Marco Polo. Their habitat are the mountainous regions of Central Asia. Marco Polo sheep are distinguishable mostly by their large size and spiraling horns. ...

, brown-headed gulls and bar-headed geese. It is also part of the Fedchenko Glacier, the largest valley glacier in Eurasia and world's longest outside the polar regions; Uzoi Dam, the highest natural dam in the world; and Karakul Lake, the world's highest large lake created by a meteor.

World Heritage status

In 2008, the national park was submitted to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

with a view to becoming a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. In 2013, the park was accepted as World Heritage.Mount Etna and the Mountains of Pamir inscribed on World Heritage List alongside El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar
whc.unesco.org, 21 June 2013. File:Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan, 06-04-2008.jpg, The Pamir Mountains File:Pamir protected area map-fr.svg, Map of eastern Tajikistan and the Pamir Ranges, showing Tajik National Park outlined in green

References

{{authority control National parks of Tajikistan World Heritage Sites in Tajikistan