TURKMENISTAN
1. Description of the "Badkhyz-Karabil" polygon, Turkmenistan – an ECONET priority
area
1. "Badkhyz-Karabil" polygon is a complex of elements No 62 and 63.
2. Compilers: Lukarevsky V.S., SPNA and big mammal expert;
Berkeliev T. – biodiversity threat expert.
3. Polygon area
The total area of the "Badkhyz-Karabil" polygon is 2,885.000 ha. The total area of the designated
SPNAs amounts to 144,680 ha including Badhhyz state nature reserve 87,680 ha), Polykhatumsky
wildlife refuge or sanctuary (Russian: "zakaznik") (150,000 ha), Kyzyldzharsky zakaznik (30,000
ha), and Chemenabidsky zakaznik (12,000 ha).
4. Altitude above sea level
"Badkhyz-Karabil" polygon occupies the foothills of the Paropamiz and Bandi-Turkestan mountain
ranges whose hilly semidesert and dry steppe belt lies at 400 m above sea level and the lowherbaceous pistachio savanna between 1,000 and 1,200 m above sea level (Gyaz'-Gyadyk spurs in the
west and foothills of the Bandi-Turkestan range in the south of the site).
5. Criteria for inclusion in ECONET
"Badkhyz-Karabil" polygon is situated at the junction of important botanico-geographic borderlines
that separate the Kopetdag-Khorosan region (Armenian-Iranian group of provinces) and the
Turkestan-Afghan region (Mountain Central Asian - Near-Himalayan group of provinces). Moreover,
the northern boundary of Badkhyz and blind-drainage depressions are the locations where
mountainous floras get in touch with the desert flora of the Turan province (Iranian-Turanian region).
The combination of different floras is responsible for the abundance and diversity of local vegetation
reported to include over 1,100 species of vascular plants of which 696 occur within the nature reserve
limits. The Badkhyz upland (at the territory of Turkmenistan) is known to harbour almost 60 endemic
plant species.
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Badkhyz nature reserve gives home to a relict pistachio savanna with its hundred year-old trees
(including those of endangered Badkhyz Pistachio) and to populations of rare and endemic plant
species, such as Afghan Fig Tree, certain Milk Vetches (Astragalus vasiltchenko, A. kushkinskii), and
Tulips (Tulipa badkhyzika, T. lehmanniana).
The fauna of the Badkhyz state nature reserve is peculiar for the combination of mountain-dwelling,
semidesert, and desert species. As many as 350 vertebrate and over 1,300 invertebrate species occur
at the territory of the reserve representing characteristic forms of the transitional area between desert,
semidesert, and arid low-mountain landscapes. Certain of these species are endemic to Turkmenistan
while some others are endemics of the adjacent Central Asian countries (some species of Carabus ,
Baluch Rock Gecko, Chernov’s Snake Skink, Asiatic Wild Ass).
Badkhyz is the only place on the Earth where the aboriginal Kulan (Asiatic Wild Ass) population
thrives and the relic Eroilanduzskaya population of Baluck Rock Gecko occurs. Also protected in the
nature reserve are habitats of declining species (Short-winged bolivaria, Central Asian (Oxus) Cobra,
Blunt-nosed Viper, Imperial Eagle, Golden Eagle, Lammergeier, Red-capped Falcon, Little Bustard,
Stone Curlew, Waxwing, Honey Badger, Caracal, Persian Gazelle, Urial, Indian Crested Porcupine),
rare and endemic species (burrow Grasshopper, some species of Ants, Long-legged Gecko,
Transcaspian Gecko, Ocellated Skink, Short-toed Eagle, Bonnelli's Eagle, Cinereous Vulture, Saker,
Lagger Falcon, Demoiselle Crane, Red-wettled Lapwing, Cream-Coloured Cours, Eagle Owl,
Mouselike Hamster), poorly studied , vulnerable (Lesser Kestrel), and endangered (Siberian Crane,
Houbara Bustard , Striped Hyena, and Leopard) species. In other words, the polygon is a home of
rare, declining, and endangered plants and animals of international importance from the standpoint of
scientific research and biodiversity conservation.
6. Proposed status
Ecological core area, buffer zones, sublatitude and submeridional ecological corridors
7. Physical features (relief, hydrology, climate, soils)
Landscapes of the Badkhyz state nature reserve have features reminiscent of plain deserts and arid
uplands of temperate climates.
The Badkhyz upland lies at the junction of Turkmen-Khorosan Mountains and Paropamiz and
includes the eastern piedmont area of Kopetdag and the north-western foothills of Safedkokh. These
two mountain ranges are spread almost latitudinally and therefore pose no barrier for the air masses
coming from the west, north-west, and north that markedly influence the Badkhyz climate making it
sharply continental.
The Badkhys upland is largely formed by sedimentary rocks, such as limestone, sandstone, and alevrolite.
Locally, geological cross sections and surface outcrops display igneous rock. The sedimentary rocks form
oblique layers going up to 800-1200 m above sea level in the south-eastern part of the upland and
gradually declining north-eastward where they overlap Karakum sands at a height of 150-200 m above
sea level.
The modern relief of Badkhyz has been formed in the course of three main groups of processes. In the
beginning, they gave rise to mountain ridges of the Alpine-Himalayan belt in the Neogene followed by
their further elevation in the Quaternary time. These powerful tectonic processes raised sedimentary
layers, bent and partly tumbled them, and eventually cracked them into fragments. Erosion and deflation
modified the upland surface making hills, valleys, and depressions and thereafter enveloped them with a
thin discontinuous cover of clay and sandy loams.
Certain relief forms are made up of volcanic sedimentary rock (e.g. groups of small hills or residual
rocks).
Other varieties of relief in the Badkhyz nature reserve have been formed by the wind. These are sand
mounds sometimes resembling barkhans (traveling sand dunes) and elongated low-depth depressions that
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were actually produced by the combined activities of wind and water. Huge deep depressions in the
southern and central parts of the nature reserve are believed to have such erosive-deflation origin.
Tectonic processes and hydrochemical decomposition of bed-rocks also contributed to the formation of
these land-forms. The entire Badkhyz is not infrequently referred to as hilly area. In fact, however, its
physical features are very diverse ranging locally from an almost plain landscape to low mountains.
Climate of the Badkhyz upland is continental and hot. Mean annual air temperature is close to 15ºC,
mean temperatures of January and July are around 2 and 28ºC respectively. However, it does not mean
that Badkhyz is altogether safe from frost. Temperatures below zero do occur between late November and
the end of March. They may be as low as –20ºC even though they do not persist for long.
Annual precipitation in Badkhyz averages 280 mm; the largest amount falls from mid-September till midApril with a maximum in January-March. Precipitation is extremely sparse during the remaining season.
Summer is almost invariably hot. Rain and snow fall largely in wintertime when they are brought with
cyclones originating from the Mediterranean branch of the polar front. These so-called "southern
cyclones" enter Central Asia either between Kopetdag and Paropamiz or across the southern part of the
Caspian Sea. Such intrusions are usually preceded by dry south-east winds, not infrequently in the form
of sand storms. Lots of dust are also carried in with the dry and warm tropical air coming from the south
and south-west with the warm cyclone sector.
In Badkhyz, winds blow practically all the year round. Westerly and south-easterly winds prevail even
though northerly winds are of greater importance in terms of intensity and air masses carried with them.
It is probably air currents incoming from the north that are responsible for the meridional aeolian landforms in the Badkhyz nature reserve and the transport of huge masses of dust material.
There are two main climatic seasons in Badkhyz, viz. dry hot and cool wet ones. The former lasts roughly
from May to September, the second is almost 7 months long and encompasses short and warm autumn,
cool winter with short frosty periods, and warm spring. The second season is on the whole mild and
moderately wet.
Like any arid area, Badkhyz has very little surface waters. There are no rivers at the territory of the nature
reserve. Rivers Tedzhen and Kushka flowing round the Badkhyz upland on the west and east do not
practically irrigate the site and only provide watering places for big mammals and stop-over points for
certain birds. The small Egrigek rivulet, a left tributary of the Kushka River, running along the eastern
edge of Badkhyz (also beyond the territory of the nature reserve) carries salt water. Water of several lakes
filling up large depressions in the central part of the upland is also saturated with salt. These lakes
sometimes dry up and turn to solonchaks.
The available underground water resources in Badkhyz are quite scanty. Much of this water is strongly
mineralized and undrinkable. Few fresh or weakly mineralized water springs are largely found in valleys
and at the foot of ebankments bordering large depressions. All of them serve as watering places for
wildlife. Also, there are salt-water springs. Small ground-water lenses are accumulated at valley bottoms
in spring-time where seasonal torrents of water run after heavy rains or snow melting.
The most widespread soils in the Badkhyz state nature reserve are grey desert soils characteristic of hot
and dry piedmont areas at large showing some specific properties. To begin with, the grey soils of
Badkhyz are lighter and contain less clay than typical ones of the same type. This can probably be
attributed to the composition of the soil-forming bed-rocks whose degradation products are rather sandy
loam than clay loam. Another causative factor is the wind that removes small clayey particles from the
surface layer of loose sediments, a substrate of soil-forming processes. The light mechanical composition
of Badkhyz grey soils accounts for their high air and water penetrability. Rain water enters deep into the
soil whereof it washes out soluble salts. At the same time, Badkhyz soils possess properties common to
all grey soils, that is they are coloured pale-greyish with a pink tint, contain little humus, and are poorly
differentiated into horizons. Light-coloured, typical, and dark grey soils are distinguished with a humus
content of up to 1.5, 1.5-1.5, and 2.5-4.5% respectively. Each of the three subtypes is associated with a
specific relief form. For example, light grey soils develop on the driest and hottest southern slopes
supporting very poor vegetation. Less hot, moist northern slopes underlain by the dark soil are occupied
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by the most productive plant communities that make up a dense sod cover. Typical grey soils usually
occur on flat watershed surfaces.
Very peculiar grey soils develop under the canopy of pistachio stands. The pistachio is a long-living tree
that reaches an average age of 300 years. In spring and summer, thick pistachio crowns droop to the
ground shading the soil and protecting it from desiccation. Before this, herbs and grasses grow profusely
under the cover of pistachio trees. A thick layer of shed leaves is formed over the ground in late autumn.
Falling fruits attract a variety of small rodents that borrow holes here. Due to this, the undercanopy soil
contains much more organic matter (due to abundant leaf shedding) than soils of open herbaceous areas
and is well-dug up. Also, it has a somewhat different chemical composition compared with other grey
soils. These common properties are inherent in soils under mature trees growing on both mountain slopes
and watersheds. Such is the powerful soil-forming capacity of pistachio forests. The next most
widespread soil type is solonchak soils whereas all other varieties occur but sporadically.
8. Ecological features
Herbaceous and tree-shrub-herb-grass communities of desert poplar and tamarisk tugai forests. Open
woodlands with shrubs (savannoids and bush thickets; meadows and deserts in piedmont and mountain
areas, solonchak depressions; river floodplains). Halophytic semishrub communities with annual
saltwarts, halophytic grassy, and psammophytic shrub associations; phytocenohores with the
predominance thereof.
Agriculturally usable lands are largely exploited as pastures for neat and small cattle, less frequently for
planting fruit orchards or cultivating cotton and vegetables on irrigated and wheat on non-irrigating plots.
Certain such lands are heavily overgrazed and undergo destruction of the native sand surface that results
in the degradation and disappearance of natural habitats for rare plant and animal species.
9. Noteworthy and protected objects
Badkhyz flora comprises over 1,000 species including more than 60 endemic forms (of the species and
subspecies rank). Endemic plants are Tulipa kushkinskii, T.lehmanniana, Allium suvorovii, Ferula
bodriana, Pistacia badkhyzika, and some other species. The specific character of Badkhyz flora is due to
its development at the important floristic borderline between the Kopetdag-Khorosan province and the
Mountain Central Asian province.
The animal kingdom of Badkhyz is rich and diverse, with wild ungulates making its most valuable
component. The Badkhyz state nature reserve gives home to 46 mammalian species including 10
carnivores, 4 ungulates, 15 rodents, 3 insectivores (shrews and hedgehogs), and 3 chiropterans.
Wild Ass (kulan), Persian Gazelle, Urial, Leopard, and Caracal are listed in the Red Data Books of IUCN
and Turkmenistan.
Over 255 bird species are reported to have been sighted in the Eroilanduz region and Badkhyz nature
reserve. About 40 ones are sedentary and more than 100 are nesting species (Long-legged Buzzard,
Cinereous Vulture, Bee Eater, Greater Rock Nuthatch, Common Myna, Scrub Robin, Eastern Pied
Wheater, etc.). Rare and endangered birds include Short-toed Eagle, Griffon Vulture, Eagle Owl, Saker,
Red-capped Falcon, Houbara Bustard, Bar-tailed Snow Finch, Red-backed Shrike and some others; they
are listed in the IUCN Red Data Book and in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan.
Reptiles are represented by a variety of species totaling 39. They include 1 tortoise species, 20 lizards,
and 18 serpents. Desert Monitor, Central Asian Cobra, and Oriental Rat Snake are listed in the IUCN Red
Data Book and in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan. Amphibians are represented by the Green Toad.
There are 1,326 invertebrate species belonging to 6 classes, 22 orders, and 134 families. Oligochetes and
leeches (family Gnathobellidae) are represented by a single species, crustaceans by 6, arachnides 148,
myriapodes - 3, diplopods - 1, and insects by 1,167 species. Arachnides are dominated by spiders (7.7%
of the total number of species) and insects by coleopterans (42.6%). Over 40 endemic and subendemic
invertebrate species recorded in Badkhyz are unknown outside the former Soviet Union and the IranAfghan sector of the region being considered. Moreover, Turkmenistan is the sole CIS country where
many other species have been reported to occur. The above groups of invertebrates comprise 771 species
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in the Kushka region, 399 in the desert steppe area, 590 in open pistachio forests, and 314 species in the
Eroilanduz Depression. The following protected areas have been designated in the Badkhyz region:
Badhhyz state nature reserve (87,680 ha), Polykhatumsky zakaznik (150,000 ha), Kyzyldzharsky
zakaznik (30,000 ha), and Chemenabidsky zakaznik (12,000 ha). Their total area amounts to 144,680 ha
thus comprising over 10% of the Badkhyz territory and less than 5% of the entire polygon.
10. Land tenure/ownership
All land is state-owned. Certain plots are leased to tenants who take upon themselves to perform a state
order (cultivation of cotton, wheat or sugar beet). Pastures are usually leased to live-stock raising daikhan
associations (former collective farms of the Soviet period) for a period of 30 years.
11. Current land use
Most agriculturally usable lands are exploited as pastures (best in Turkmenistan). Crop farming is barely
an economic proposition and confined to the valleys of the Kushka and Murgab Rivers. On the contrary,
gas condensate exploration and extraction are carried out all over the region of interest. Large deposits of
alunites have been found. One more important activity is excavation of building materials (largely
pebbles from riverbeds).
12. Factors adversely affecting the site's ecological character
The major impact on the site is anticipated to come from the promotion of live-stock husbandry and the
ensuing threat of overgrazing and loss of natural habitats. The uneven distribution of water sources
contributes to the local desertification of areas adjacent to watering places, wells, and cattle drove routes.
The most seriously threatened ecosystems are tugai forests along the Kushka and Murgab River Valleys.
Here, indigenous tugai ecosystems are practically extinct under combined effect of overgrazing,
ploughing, and felling. The loss of habitats for wild plants and animals appears to be the most universal
cause of impoverished biodiversity in tugai ecosystems.
Other important threats to biodiversity include poaching, nut gathering, fires, and currently planned
alunite mining.
13. Conservation measures taken
The site incorporates one state nature reserve and 3 zakazniks that occupy a total area of 144,680 ha. The
Kushkinsky Forestry operates in the region of the same name.
The staff of the nature reserve is responsible for the practical nature protection not only within the SPNA
but also in the entire region. However, such infrastructure proves inadequate for the efficient biodiversity
conservation even if supported by up-to-date technical means.
The institution of public inspectorate has greatly contributed to the success of Wild Ass population
conservation in the Kushka Valley in 2001-2004.
14. Conservation measures proposed but not yet implemented
Redesignation of the Badkhyz state nature reserve as a national park, with the core area retaining the
SPNA status and some new areas incorporated as zakazniks. The establishment of Karabil SPNA with
an ecological corridor (controlled land use area). Inspection raids and reglamentation of economic
activities in the buffer zone.
The site includes Badkhyz state nature reserve as the first-order core area and zakazniks that actually
serve as ecological corrodors. However, the area of the Chemenabidsky zakaznik needs to be
enlarged to 20,000 ha, and human activities on its territory in summer seasons must be rationalized. The
first-order core area should be extended by joining the entire Eroilanduzskaya and Namaksarskaya
Depressions that are of primary importance for ungulates in wintertime. The core area should be
surrounded by a buffer zone, where the environmentally friendly land use practice is assured.
It is recommended that the "Agashly" zakaznik be designated to cover more than 15,000 ha in the
Kushka-Murgab interfluvial area. This zakaznik would protect Wild Ass, Persian Gazelle, Urial,
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Leopard, Caracal, Striped Hyena, and certain rare bird species (Saker, Golden Eagle, etc.). Also, it would
serve as an ecological corridor necessary to maintain population integrity of these large mammals.
The southern part of the Karabil upland should be protected as a nature reserve covering an area over
50,000 ha. Its role would be similar to that of the "Agashly" zakaznik. In the future, it must provide home
to a large Wild Ass population. A few sites of the least affected tugai forests in the Kuska and Murgab
Valleys with a total area of 1,000-3,000 ha need to be affiliated with the Karabil nature reserve. The
headquarters of the reserve should be established in the settlement of Takhtabazar. Such infrastructure is
expected to promote biodiversity conservation of the entire Karabil region.
15. Social and economic characteristics
A large fraction of the local human population is engaged in cattle grazing at distant pastures. The
population is very sparse across the entire region excepting areas close to Serkhetabad and
Takhtabazar, where arable land plots are available and processing industries operate.
16. Environmental protection authorities and projects
Nature protection activities are conducted by the Badkhyz nature reserve and the Mary Department of
Environmental Protection. The WWF Wild Ass and Leopard conservation project is underway; censuses
of ungulates are carried out in the framework of this project.
17. Scientific research and facilities
A few research projects designed to study selected carnivorous species and rodents in the northern part of
Karabil were undertaken by the staff of the Mary plague monitoring station in the fifties to the eighties of
the last century. There are no reports of recent studies if any.
From the 1950s to the 1990s, complex faunistic and floristic studies were based at the Badkhyz state
nature reserve. Scientists of the reserve compiled an inventory of the local vertebrate fauna and
vegetation. Many results were presented in the theses for which their authors received scientific degrees.
The list of publications comprises hundreds of papers and a few volumes of collected articles on
biodiversity conservation. Regular studies were carried out on an annual basis to collect data for the
"Annals of Nature" of the Badkhyz reserve. Since the 1990s, a major line of research has been monitoring
populations of big mammals.
2. Description of the "Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea" polygon, Turkmenistan
1. "Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea" polygon comprises elements No 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
and 16, that is the entire length of the Turkmen coast stretching from south to north.
2. Compilers: Berkeliev T. – biodiversity threat expert.
3. Polygon area
The total area of the "Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea" polygon is 2,200,000--?? ha. The total area
of the designated SPNAs amounts to 269,000 ha including the strictly protected area proper (226,600
ha, with 192,047 ha or almost 80% being the sea surface), the buffer zone (35,4 ha), and zakaznik
(7,000 ha).
4. Altitude above sea level
Absolute heights vary from –27 m (the Caspian Sea level) to 282 m above sea level (Mountain
Kalidag).
5. Criteria for inclusion in ECONET
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Khazar nature reserve. It has the status of wetlands of international importance (certified as a Ramsar site
as early as 1976). The nature reserve provides home to wintering and breeding migratory birds.
Also, it protects a seal rookery. Important habitats of migrating birds are located at the sea coast near the
settlements of Ekerem and Esenguly, in the Kiyanly and Yuzhno-Chelekensky Bays, at the shallows
of the Turkmensky Bay and the coastal stretch between Gekpataluk and the Gulf of Turkmenbashi
including Kyzylsu, Balkan, Mikhailovsky, ans Severo-Chelekensky Bays.
The Caspian Minnow (Caspiomyzon wagneri), Cyclostomata, is listed in the Red Data Book together
with several of the 45 fish species inhabiting Turkmen territorial waters of the Caspian Sea; these include
Caspian Shad (Alosa kessleri), Fringebarbel Sturgeon (Acipenser nudiventris), Caspian Salmon (Salmo
trutta caspicus), and Inconnu (Stenodus leucichthys leucichthys). Species of the sturgeon family
(Acipenseridae) are the most valuable fishes among those whose numbers have catastrophically declined
and continue to decrease.
The nature reserve is a home to two species of amphibia and 38 reptiles.
The mammalian fauna comprises 79 species belonging to 54 genera and 22 families. Three of them are
listed in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan, viz. River Otter (rare sightings along the banks of the Etrek
River), Persian Gazelle (reported from Ogurchinsky district; single individuals sighted at the Dardzh
Peninsula), and Indian Crested Porcupine (Maloye Delili).
The noteworthy birds seen at the sea coast (besides shorebirds) include Black Stork, Steppe Eagle,
Golden Eagle, Imperial Eagle, Peregrine, Staker, Short-toed Eagle, Eagle Owl, Snowy Owl, Black
Francolin, Purple Gallinule, Demoiselle Crane, Little Bustard, Houbara Bustard, Bearded Reedling,
Waxwing, Shore Lark, Snow Bunting, Desert Sparrow, See-see Partridge, and Chukar. Forty three of the
total 289 bird species are regarded as rare ones. Some of them are "traditionally" rare whereas about 20
species underwent population decline as a result of human activities and are currently on the edge of
extinction.
Four species of those flower plants that occur at the Caspian Sea coast are listed in the second edition of
the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan. These are Climacoptera czelekenica, Salsola transchyranica,
Lasiopogon muscoides, and Jurinea karabugasica. In addition, there is one lichen species, Teloschistes
lacunosus (Rupr.) Savicz.
6. Proposed status
An ecological corridor of international and regional importance (along the Caspian Sea coast). Core areas
at the junctions with the Kopetdag ecological corridor (along the Etrek River) and KopetdagBol'shebalkhansky corridor (the Gulf of Turkmenbashi).
7. Physical features (relief, hydrology, climate, soils)
Inland natural complexes are represented by desert landscapes and dry subtropics. The most typical
landscapes are those of sea gulfs, shallows, and other water areas (including fresh-water ones).
The sea level is a most important factor governing dynamics of natural complexes. In 1977-1979, the
Caspian Sea level fell by 1 m which resulted in the drying of the Mikhailovsky Bay. As a consequence,
the total water area within the limits of the nature reserve decreased by almost 8,000 ha. At present, the
water level in sea gulfs rises and approaches the -28 m mark (as it did in the 1940s-1950s of the 20th
century). The hydrological network of the site is largely formed by the Etrek River and water bodies of its
floodplain. The river flows from Iran but carries water as far as the Caspian Sea only in high-flood
periods. In recent years, land irrigation for agriculture in the Etrek Basin reduced the amount of water in
the river which resulted in the disturbance of the hydrological regime during high-water periods. This
situation caused Lake Bol'shoi Delili to dry out; to-day, it has to be artificially filled with water.
The soil cover is formed by grey and grey-brown soils characteristic of sand and gravel deserts. Equally
common in the area are young dry substrates on shores and islands, loose barkhan sands (e.g. on the
Dardzha Peninsula), recent (the Atrek River floodplain) and ancient (Uzboy/Aktam) alluvial deposits,
peatlands, and hydromorphic solonchaks). The climate of the region is continental despite its proximity to
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the sea, with sharp diurnal and seasonal fluctuations of air temperature, mild winter, poor precipitation,
and intense solar radiation (over 150 kcal/cm2/year).
8. Ecological features
Herbaceous associations with an admixture of perennial saltwarts; halophytic semishrub communities
with annual saltwarts, annual and biennial halophytic grassy communities and phytocenohores with the
predominance thereof; oases; the Caspian Sea (tugai forests, bush thickets, meadows and deserts and
hyperhalophyticdeserts; river floodplains; piedmont and low-mountain solonchak depressions).
Psammophytic shrub and semishrub associations and phytocenohores dominated by them; solonchak
lakes devoid of vegetation; sagebrush associations and phytocenochores dominated by them; white saxaul
forests and phytocenochores with the predominance thereof in plain and low-hilly (melkosopochnik)
terrains, perennial saltwart associations and phytocenochores dominated by them.
The lack of fresh-water sources in the region makes almost impossible crop farming, and pastures do not
suffer overgrazing. Anthropogenic transformation of local landscapes is largely due to industrial
activities, such as oil and gas extraction and transportation. Considerable recreational resources can be
expected to make the region a major tourist attraction.
9. Noteworthy and protected objects
Ramsar site of international importance. Fish spawning grounds in the lower reaches of the Etrek River.
IBA: The Gulf of Turkmenbashi including Kyzylsu, Balkan, Mikhailovsky, and Severo-Chelekensky
Bays.
Fauna: Caspian Seals, Cattle Egret, Spoonbill, Marbled Teal, Peregrine, Black Francolin, Siberian White
Crane, Purple Gallinule, Great Bustard, Little Bustard, Houbara Bustard, Stone Curlew, Sociable Plover,
Great White Egret, Glossy Ibis, Ruddy Shelduck, Common Shelduck, Ferruginous Duck, White-tailed
Eagle, Black-headed Bunting, White Pelican, Dalmatin Pelican, White-headed Duck, Pallas' Sea Eagle,
Greylag Goose, Great Block-headed Gull, Caspian Tern, Osprey, Pygmy Cormorant, Black-throated
Diver, Slavonian Grebe, Squacco Heron, White Stork, Black Stork, Greater Flamingo, Lesser Whitefronted Goose, Mute Swan, Whooper Swan, and Smew.
10. Land tenure/ownership
All land is state-owned. Pastures are usually leased to live-stock raising daikhan associations for a period
of 30 years.
11. Current land use
The site is rich in mineral resources of which oil and gas are most important. The majority of the oil fields
are located east and south of the Khazarsky sector of the nature reserve, gas and gas-oil deposits lie east
of the Esengulyisky sector. Some of them are buried off-shore in the Caspian Sea (Cheleken zone). Solid
mineral deposits found not far from the nature reserve include igneous rocks, gypsum, and limestone.
Springs of iodine-bromine water (metal-containing brine) are exploited in the vicinity of the nature
reserve.
12. Factors adversely affecting the site's ecological character
1. Intrusion of alien species, in the first place the Ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi.
2. Pollution: large quantities of pollutants brought in with waters of the Volga River; pollution
caused by off-shore oil production facilities including accidental spills and "routine" leakage;
dispersion and redistribution of pollutants by sea currents; increased risk of pollution from oil
tanker transportation along the sea coast protected by the Khazar nature reserve.
3. Poaching and irrationl use of biological resources. Shorebirds and sturgeon fishes are the
main objects of illegal hunting and fishing. Caspian Seal and Persian Gazelle are poached less
frequently.
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4. Blockade of access to the original spawning grounds upstream the dams on the Volga River
and elimination of natural fish populations by the so-called "centralized" fishing practice in
river mouths during the spawning season.
5. Diseases (myopathy in sturgeon fishes, pestis carnivorum in the Caspian Seal, etc.).
6. Ill-considered regulation of river flows via dams on the Volga, Kura, and other rivers
substantially compromised biodiversity on the Caspian Sea fauna, in the first place that of
semianadromous fish. To-day spawning grounds of the Etrek populations of Common Carp and
Caspian Roach are virtually non-existent. The same is true of wetland areas in the lower Etrek
River (the Esengulyisky sector of the Khazar nature reserve) most seriously degraded by human
impact. Until 1957, the Etrek flew into the Caspian Sea and partly dried out only in drought
years. At present, the altered climatic conditions and irresponsible water utilization for irrigation
cause the river within the territory of Turkmenistan to dry up completely in certain years (e.g.
1995-1997 and 1998-2002).
7. Sea level variation. Variations of the sea level are an essential factor determining natural
conditions in the coastal terrains. They tend to change contours of shallow water areas, the most
noteworthy physical feature of the Khazar nature reserve. Quite recently (in the 1980s), the
biggest concern facing the nature reserve was the lowering sea level and the drying of large
water areas; to-day, the sea is coming up and threatens to cover certain polluted sites. This poses
an additional problem of correcting the reserve's boundaries to ensure protection of newly
emerging shallows.
8. Technogenic impact (industrial developments in the region)
The major disturbance factors include the ten-fold rise in the number of high-speed motor boats
(up to 650), the construction of the Bekdash-Turkmenbashi motorway, mowing and destruction
of reed beds, degradation of many closed (i.e. self-protected) habitats for breeding, roosting, and
wintering birds. Results of the monitoring study conducted by specialist of the nature reserve in
2000 in the coastal area revealed a substantial decline in the number of Demoiselle Crane
(Anthropoides virgo), Bewick's Swan (Cygnus bewickii), Red-breasted Goose (Rifibrenta
ruficollis), Red Kite (Milvus milvus), andWhimbrel (Numennius phaeopus). Bittern (Botaurus
stellaris), Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea), Saker
(Falco cherrug), Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo), Common Gull (Larus canus), and Avocet
(Recurvirostra avosetta) stopped breeding in the area. Great Bustard (Otis tarda) and Little
Bustard (Tetrax terax) appear to be extinct. Regular collection of eggs in unprotected larid
colonies at the south-east coast of the Caspian Sea resulted in the disappearance of such rare and
valuable species as Great Black-headed Gull (Larus ichthyaetus), Slender-billed Gull (L. genei),
and Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia).
13. Conservation measures taken
The total size of the Khazar nature reserve is 269,000 ha including 226,000 ha of the strictly protected
area proper (with 192,047 ha or almost 80% being the sea surface, depending on the water level), the
buffer zone (35,4 ha), and zakaznik (7,000 ha). The nature reserve comprises two areas located 300 km
apart. One is the Esengulyisky sector set up in 1932 (68,700 ha), the other is the Khazarsky sector
established in 1968 at an area of 192,300 ha. The Esengulyisky sector is in turn divided into two parts: the
coastal area proper including shallow water sites between Esenguly, Chekishlyar, and Okarem and the
lake system of Maloye Delili and Bol'shoye Delili in the lower reaches of the Atrek River. The nature
reserve has the buffer zone and one zakaznik on Ogurchinsky Island (7,000 ha) in the Caspian Sea
between the Esengulyisky and Khazarsy sectors designated in 1982.
The nature reserve protects most of the Gulf of Turkmenbashi with its Severo-Chelekensky,
Mikhailovsky, and Balkhansky Bays (total area 154,910 ha). It also includes part of the Krasnovodskaya
Pit, Islands Osushnye, Dag-Ata, and a few others having the total land area of 416 ha. The protective
regime is extended to the 1 km wide buffer zone that comprises off-shore locations of the Caspian Sea
(2,613 ha) and the Gulf of Turkmenbashi (18,000 ha) as well as land portions of the Krasnovodskaya and
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Severo-Chelekenskaya Pits, Dardzha Peninsula, the coast of the Balkhansky Bay, foothills of the KailiDaga Ridge, and Ufrinsky Peninsula (total area 16,398 ha).
Ogurchinsky zakaznik has been set up at an area of 7,000 ha to establish and maintain a reserve
population of Persian Gazelle.
14. Conservation measures proposed but not yet implemented
Biodiversity conservation activities in the existing sections of the Khasar nature reserve should be
extended to the Kiyanly Bay, certain sites in the Gulf of Karabogaz, and Yuzno-Chelekensky Bay.
There is every reason to redesignate the Khasar nature reserve as a national park. The redesignation
would be instrumental in substantially improving the current system for the management of the protected
sites in the Caspian region and unprotected ones in the adjoining areas. Also, it would reduce to a
minimum damage to natural ecosystems from the expanding recreational activity.
Inspection raids are planned in ecological corridors that will connect the site with the projected Balkhan
national park and West Kopetdag.
15. Social and economic characteristics
Nearly 80% of the human population is concentrated in industrial centres (Turkmenbashi, Garabogaz, and
Khazar). Living standards in these centres strongly depend on industrial developments (oil-gas extraction
and processing, manufacture of chemical products, etc.). The largest oil processing plant is situated in the
city of Turkmenbashi that is also a vital railway junction with a large international sea port and
Balkanbalyk" fish production factory. The city has a well-developed ultrastructure and tourist
accommodation facilities at the Caspian Sea coast that provide working places for residents. Population
employment in the gas and oil sector is also ensured in the city of Khazar (Cheleken) and the adjacent
minor settlements (also in Okarem).
The principal factors limiting the development of live-stock husbandry are the lack of forage and
especially fresh water as well as traditional preference for the fish diet among residents to whom it serves
as an adequate source of protein. The shortage of water for irrigation prevents extensive crop farming
even though gardening and melon-and-gourd cultivation at personal plots of land have recently become
widespread activities.
A number of large industrial enterprises are operated on Cheleken Peninsula, viz. production association
of "Chelekenmorneftegas", Chelekensky chemical plant (mainly producing iodine and bromine),
Chelekensky plant of technical-grade carbon (ChZTU), oil-producing enterprises, etc.
There are a few settlements in the southern part of the site (Esenguly, Aul-Bazar, Chekishlyar) residents
of which largely preserved the traditional life style dependent on live-stock raising and utilization of sea
biological resources, both fish and game. Most of the male population is engaged in fishing.
16. Environmental protection authorities and projects
Nature protection activity is performed by the Khazar nature reserve, the Balkan Department of
Environmental Protection, and "Kaspekokontrol" (environmental impact inspectorate for the Caspian
region). The GEF mid-scale project stipulating financial support of the Khazar nature reserve has been
approved. Several other projects (concerned with the Caspian Seal, fish-stock resources, and sustainable
development of maritime population) are being implemented in the framework of the Caspian
Environmental Program. Control over fishing activities in the territorial waters of Turkmenistan is
executed by the State Fishing Inspectorate.
17. Scientific research and facilities
The very first biological studies in the south-eastern part of the Caspian Sea were initiated in the XVIIth
and XIXth centuries by expeditions organized by the Russian authorities. An earliest (1883) description
of off-shore waterbird concentrations along the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea was made by
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G.S.Karelin who had conducted geological surveys in the area in 1832 and 1836. G.Radde undertook a
wildlife survey in Atrek and some other coastal sites in 1884 and N.A. Zarudny in 1896. G.Lowdon
visited the Krasnovodky Gulf (now the Gulf of Turkmebashi) and the Gasankuliysky (now Esenguliysky)
Gulf in 1896-1911.
The first professional expedition to the area was led by M.K.Laptev in 1923. Since the early 1930s,
exploration of biological resources in the nature reserve has become an indispensable component of its
research activity. Later, the works of L.K.Shaposhnikov, K.A.Vorobyev, and Yu.A.Isakov supplemented
by observations of A.V.Samorodov, S.A.Aleksandrov, E.S.Ptushenko, and G.P.Dementyev laid the basis
for systematic bird studies in the area being considered.
3. Description of the "North-west Turkmenistan" polygon, Turkmenistan - an ECONET
priority area
1. The "North-west Turkmenistan" polygon is a complex of elements No 1, 2, and 5.
2. Compilers:
Berkeliev T. - biodiversity threat expert.
3. Polygon area
The total area of the "North-west Turkmenistan" polygon is 1,262,000 ha. There are no designated
protected areas within the polygon bounds.
4. Altitude above sea level
"North-west Turkmenistan" is largely a plain part of which lies 30 m below sea level whereas other parts
exhibit elements of the mountain relief as high as 488 m above seal level (Kyzyl-Burun Mountains) or
desert landscapes of varied composition (sand, clay, and gravel deserts). The general aspect of the site is
that of a flatland. The total length of precipices flanking mountainous relief forms in elevated areas with
exposed rocks amounts to 1,000 km.
5. Criteria for inclusion in ECONET
A variety of land-forms in the area account for the great diversity of wildlife and vegetation, both
represented by characteristic Central Asian species. Twenty three animal species inhabiting north-west
Turkmenistan are listed in the national Red Data Book. The site under consideration is paramount for the
conservation of Saiga, one of the most ancient mammals, thousands of which used to spend winter in this
area. Also, the polygon is the place from which the last sightings of the Cheetah have been reported.
6. Proposed status
An ecological core area and several important ecological corridors. The core includes the Kulandag
terrain, Babashi Mountains, Kapigshem range, Kumsebshen Sands, northern Uchtagankumy, the northern
part of the Kaplankyrsky cliff-face (chink), Kemalo-Uzboyskaya Hollow, and Tedzhek Mountains. The
corridors are formed by the Ersary-Baba Ridge, Kemalo-Uzboiskaya Depression, and the southern cliffface of the Ust'urt Plateau.
7. Physical features
Hilly plains passing up to low mountains, chinks (precipices and cliff-faces), solonchak depressions.
Open water sources are represented by isolated marginal springs. The arid climate is sharply continental
with high summer and low winter temperatures. The soil cover is formed by sands, gravel, and grey
desert soils (locally).
8. Ecological features
White saxaul forests and phytocenochores where they predominate, lakes in solonchak depressions
devoid of vegetation, sagebrush associations and phytocenophores with the predominance of thereof
(plain and hummocky deserts).
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Annul saltwart, halophytic semishrub, and halophitic grassy communities (hyperhalophytic deserts and
solonchak depressions).
The entire territory of north-west Turkmenistan lies far from large populated localities, practically lacks
open water sources, and was therefore poorly developed in the past and remains so at present.
Agriculturally usable lands are largely exploited as pastures for small cattle and camels within 20-30 km
from human settlements that are actually few. During the last 10 years, a major part of the area was
illegally used by residents for hunting Urials, Persian Gazelles, Saigas, Hares, Foxes, Wolves, Caracals,
and other animals.
9. Noteworthy and protected objects
Chinks of Karabogazgol (Belmurad, Kalandag, and other mountains) and Babashi, the southern cliff-face
of Ust'urt, Begenzalikyr, and the western cliff-face of Kaplankyr (Karashor) represent unique forms of
relief. Of special interest are such sites as the Uchtagan Sands where a large intact Caracal population is
protected and the ravine system between the Karabogazgol chinks and the southern cliff-face of the
Ust'urt Plateau supporting integral groups of Ust'urt Bighorn, Honey Badger, Caracal, Urial, Persian
Gazelle, Saker, Golden Eagle, Houbara Bustard, and other species.
The above areas are of primary importance for the survival of the Ust'urt Saiga population during winter
seasons. Also, they may be used to establish a Wild Ass population to be the largest in Asia.
Birds of value deserving special protection include Peregrine, Golden Eagle, Staker, Lesser Kestrel, Stone
Curlew, Eagle Owl, Egyptian Vulture, Chukar, See-see Partridge, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Pin-tailed
Sandgrouse, Short-toed Eagle, and Houbara Bustard.
10. Land tenure/ownership
All land is state-owned. Pastures are usually leased to live-stock raising daikhan associations for a period
of 30 years.
11. Current land use
Most of the area may be used as desert pastures. Extensive exploration for solid mineral resources (gold,
kaolin, bentonit, coal, etc.) is underway in the Kizyl-Kaya region. The found deposits will probably be
developed after the construction of the railway is completed.
12. Factors adversely affecting the site's ecological character
The main threat to biodiversity at the "North-west Turkmenistan" polygon is illegal game shooting and
hunting rare and valuable birds and mammals. Anticipated impacts include civil engineering activities at
the boundaries of the area that may cause the fragmentation and decline of animal populations, in the first
place those of Saiga.
13. Conservation measures taken
There are no SPTAs at the polygon. Nature protection activities are sporadic and restricted to occasional
visits of wardens to the site once a year or even once in a few years. The protection is the responsibility of
Ashkhabad and Balkanabad-based inspectors who patrol the area in mobile groups using motor-vehicles.
14. Conservation measures proposed but not yet implemented
A national park must be organized in the limits of the polygon, with strictly protected core areas
incorporating the following localities: Kulandag Mountains (chinks of Karabogazgol), Babashi chinks,
Dempe, Kpigshem and Kumsebshen wells, and Uchtagan Sands.
The national park must be staffed by at least 25 wardens provided with up-to-date technical means. The
park infrastructure will include properly equipped control posts and shelters for patrolling wardens as
well as tourist accommodation facilities.
15. Social and economic characteristics
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The area is very sparsely populated. Most residents (Turkmens and Kazakhs) concentrated in small
settlements of Chagyl, Kizyl-Kaya, Geokdere, etc. and around wells are engaged in grazing live-stock
(sheep and camels) at distant pastures.
16. Environmental protection authorities and projects
The area being considered is from time to time visited by inspectors of the Balkan Department of
environmental protection. In recent years, scientists of the Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna undertook
a series of transect studies designed to collect information needed to substantiate the establishment of
Ust'urt zakaznik. The area was visited by WWF experts.
17. Scientific research and facilities
The most important faunistic studies in north-west Turkmenistan were conducted by the zoologists
V.A.Zakharidze and A.V.Gorbunov of the Turkmenbashi plague monitoring station between 1960 and
1990.
In the period from 1990 till 2005, V.S.Lukarevsky carried out episodic surveys with a view to evaluating
population dynamics of big mammals (Urial, Persian Gazelle, Wild Ass, Wolf, Caracal, etc.).
No botanical studies have been reported from the region.
4. Description of the "Amudarya" polygon, Turkmenistan - an ECONET priority area
1. The "Amudarya" polygon is a complex of 5 elements: No 75, 76, 77, 78 and 79.
2. Compilers: Marochkina V.V. - Head, Research Department, Amudarya nature reserve;
Berkeliev T. - biodiversity threat expert.
3. Polygon area
The total area of the "Amudarya" polygon is 1,450,000 ha including 49,500 ha occupied by the Amudarya
nature reserve.
4. Altitude above sea level
The height of the area varies from 154 m above sea level (in the vicinity of the Tyamuyunsky Reservoir
in the northern part of element No 41) to 412 m (Kuvadag Mountain in the southern part of element No
42).
5. Criteria for inclusion in ECONET
Tugai forests are an endangered landscape. Meanwhile, they are considered to be of primary importance
for the conservation of the gene fund of Central Asian tugai species and communities by virtue of great
diversity of their flora and fauna in the Amudarya floodplain. Twenty seven species of animals inhabiting
local tugai forests are listed in the IUCN Red Data Book as globally endangered ones. The Red Data
Book of Turkmenistan (1999 edition) lists 2 species of plants, 12 insects, 4 fishes, 10 reptiles, 24 birds,
and 14 mammals. The most seriously threatened animals include Fringebarbel Sturgeon (Acipenser
nudiventris), Big Amudarya Shovelnose (Pseudoscaphirhynchus kaufmanni), Small Amudarya
Shovelnose (Pseudoscaphirhynchus hermanni), Bukhara Deer (Cervus elaphus bactrianus), River Otter
(Lutra lutra), and Persian Gazelle (Gasella subgutturosa). Tugai forests host 18 plant species endemic to
Central Asia. Other endimics and subendemics recorded at the polygon include 12 fish species, 4 reptiles,
3 birds, and 10 mammals. Three key ornithological sites (KOS) are distinguished within the polygon
bounds. It gives home to 17 species of medicinal plants among which Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is
most widely known being collected on a commercial scale and exported abroad. Other economically
valuable wild-growing plants include (Trachomitum scabrum) used as a raw material for the manufacture
of high-quality natural fibres, Bur Reed Grass (Phragmites australis), Eriantus (Eriantus ravennae), and
Reed Mace (Typha elephantine) pressed into fibre building boards or unbaked bricks. Also, tugai forests
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give home to the ancestors of cultivated plants, such as Alfalfa (Medicago lupulina), Olives (genus
Elaeagnus), and Djunghar Willow (Salix songarica).
6. Proposed status
An ecological corridor with differentiated land use connecting protected core areas ("Kyzulkum" nature
reserve, Uzbekistan; projected "Dzharguzer" zakaznik, Turkmenistan; "Tigrovaya balka" and "AralPaigambar", Uzbekistan).
7. Physical features (relief, hydrology, climate, soils)
Karakum Desert that stretches on the left side of the Amudarya River is a sandy plain covered with sparse
vegetation and underlain by a 200-800 m thick Karakum grey alluvial suite. In terms of time of surface
formation, origin of its material, and relief features, the Karakum Desert adjoining the Amudarya River is
subdivided into three geomorphological areas, viz. Vostochno-Karakumsky (sod-covered, locally
barkhan, sands, with depressions and residual rock groups of the Neogene period) spreading as far as the
Deinau-Romankul' solonchaks-Eradzhi line; Dzhinlikumsky (a 20 km long stretch of a gently rolling
mid-Quaternary plain having the dense sandy surface with patches of mid-size ridges or hummocky
topography and little takyrs); and Zaunguzie (a plateau with large sand ridges and Pitnyaksky elevation
in the northern part). The right side of the Amudarya River is flanked by the Sundukli Sands. This
Pliocene-Quaternary plateau is underlain by dense deposits of clay and sandy loams and overlaid by
aeolian sands arranged in submeridional weakly-fixed ridges, sometimes fragmented into isolated
mounds. Bottoms of deflation depressions that replaced former solonchaks are presently covered with
discharge water from collection and drainage systems. The modern Amudarya Valley has formed over
Upper- and Lower Quaternary continental deposits composed of dense sandstone and clay. The amount of
sand in ancient and recent sediments left by the Amudarya increases with distance from the oasis. The
valley makes up an autonomous hydrological area with a Neogene-Quaternary water-bearing flow
moving from the river towards the Karakum Desert. Highly-mineralized underground freshwaters are
distributed throughout the valley in the form of local near-riverbed lenses; some if them are used for
water supply. Mean annual temperature varies from 16.7 ºC in the south to 13.5 ºC in the north, with an
absolute maximum of 47 ºC and a minimum of -28 ºC. Annual precipitation averages 67 mm in the north
and 172 mm in the south. Strong winds blow all year round. North-westerly and northerly winds prevail.
Sand storms occur 19-20 days in a year and even more frequently. The Amudarya Valley is dominated by
irrigated meadow or meadow floodplain-alluvial soils with patches of solonetz-like soil. Sand desert and
sometimes grey-brown soils are widespread at the left side of the valley that also features isolated tracts
of weakly-fixed sands, takyrs, and solonchaks. The right side of the Amudarya Valley is characterized by
the predominance of sand desert and grey-brown soils with patches of semi-fixed sands, takyrs, and
solonchaks.
8. Ecological features
White saxaul forests and phytocenochores in which they predominate. Halophytic semishrub
communities with annual saltwarts, halophytic grassy and tree-shrub-herb-grass communities of desert
poplar and tamarisk tugai forests. Annual and biennial communities and phytocenohores with the
predominance thereof. Sagebrush associations and phytocenophores where they predominate. Open
woodland shrub, herbaceous, psammophytic shrub, and psammophytic semishrub associations and
phytocenohores dominated by them. Oases, black saxaul forests and phytocenohores with the
predominance thereof. Sagebrush associations and phytocenophores dominated by them (deserts
including hyperhalophytic deserts, tugai forests, brush thickets in meadows and deserts). Plain and
hummocky savannoids, solonchak depressions, river floodplains in foothills and low-mountains or in
piedmont and mountainous areas).
The general aspect of the site is determined by the Amudarya Valley landscape substantially modified
under effect of human activities and by moderately transformed portions of the Karakum and Kyzylkum
Deserts. Tugai forests now exist as isolated massifs with a total area of 40,000 ha including roughly 6,500
ha protected in the Amudaraya state nature reserve. Most of the area is occupied by agricultural lands
under cotton and wheat; smaller plots are used to grow rice and other crops. The development of adjacent
portions of the desert is in progress and some of them are already involved in agricultural production. The
majority of human settlements are located in the central and the wider southern parts of the Amudarya
Valley. Both tugai forests and agricultural lands depend on water supply that they receive from the river;
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its stretch within the Lebapsky velayat (administrative region) is 726 km long. At the territory of
Turkmenistan, three large canals originate from the Amudarya River; these are Karakumsky, Karshinsky,
and Amu-Bukharsky Canals. The width of the Amudarya floodplain ranges from 4 to 24 km between
Atamyrat and the El'dzhik Gorge and is 3-9 km downstream. The dam of the Tuyamuyunsky Reservoir
was constructed in 1980. The reservoir continues to be filled with water because its level has not yet
reached the projected mark. For all that, it already exerts negative influence on the tugai forests of the
Lebapsky velayat lying north of the reservoir. There is a well-developed collection and drainage system
through which water is delivered to the Amudarya river and a number of discharge ponds created in the
Karakum Desert. A similar pond system in the Kyzylkum Desert serves to receive water from Uzbekistan
and discharge it farther to the Amudarya. Large artificial water-courses and lake systems gave rise to
riparian and lacustrine ecosystems that replaced natural desert communities. The remaining tugai forests
continue to be destroyed by felling, stubbing, and subsequent ploughing to secure new agricultural lands
while those unfit for the purpose undergo abusive overgrazing by neat and small cattle, suffer from fires
and hunting.
9. Noteworthy and protected objects
The site hosts the Amudarya state nature reserve that occupies 2.1% of the "Amudarya" polygon and is
altogether exempt from economic activity. The IUCN classification refers the Amudarya state nature
reserve to category 1 - "specially protected natural areas". The nature reserve protects river valley
ecosystems in the mid-course of the Amudarya and the neighbouring portions of the Kyzylkum desert.
The flora of this area is relatively poor; 25 formations of tugai vegetation are distinguished here that
comprise 113 principal associations.
IBA (important bird areas): lake Soltantagt, Zeyidskoye Reservoir, Tuyamuyun-Sultansandzharskoe and
Amudaryinskoye Reservoirs.
Fauna: Bukhara Deer, Persian Gazelle, Caracal, Honey Badger, Indian Crested Porcupine, River Otter,
Free-tailed Bat, Great Noctule Bat, Geoffrey's Bat, Bobrinski's Jerboa, Blandford's Jerboa, Houbara
Bustard, Lesser Kestrel, White Pelican, Dalmatian Pelican, Spoonbill, Marbled Teal, White-headed Duck,
Osprey, Short-toed Eagle, Golden Eagle, Siberian White Crane, Stone Curlew, Pygmy Cormorant, Great
White Egret, Glossy Ibis, Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Ruddy Shelduck, Common Shelduck, Ferruginous
Duck, Shikra, White-tailed Eagle, Pheasant, Black Stork, Pallid Harrier, Common Buzzard, Cinereous
Vulture, Saker, Red-capped falcon, Chukar, Sandhill Crane, Demoiselle Crane, Little Bustard, Houbara
Bustard, Cream-coloured Cours, and Black-bellied Sandgrouse.
10. Land tenure/ownership
All land is state-owned. Certain plots are leased to tenants who take upon themselves to perform a state
order (cultivation of cotton, wheat or rice). Pastures are usually leased to live-stock raising daikhan
associations for a period of 30 years.
11. Current land use
The site comprises the most extensively developed and densely populated portions of the Biratinsky,
Seidinsky, Farabsky, Galkynyshsky, Garashsyzlyksky, Serdarabatsky, Sakarsky, Sayatsky,
Khodzhambazsky, Karabekaul'sky, Khalachsky, Atamyratsky, and Beyik Turkmenbashi etraps (districts)
of the Lebapsky velayat. The population is concentrated along the Amudarya River. Most of the residents
are engaged in farming (cultivation of cottons, wheat, and rice) and in live-stock raising. Others are
employed in food and light industries, large chemical works in the city of Turkmenabad and the oilprocessing plant in Seidi or involved in gas and oil extraction.
12. Factors adversely affecting the site's ecological character
Population growth and extensive agricultural developments require increasingly more land for cultivation
and lead to a decrease of areas supporting natural ecosystems. The Amudarya riverbed continues to
narrow and becomes shallow as a result of using its water for irrigation and the absence of an adequately
functioning water-protection zone. Taken together, these factor pose a serious threat to the very existence
of natural ecosystems in the Amudarya Valley. The level of the Tuyamuyunsky Reservoir is growing and
its water threatens to overflood tugai forests in the north. Natural dynamics of high-water currents is
disturbed by the collective action of river flow regulation, construction of high-water dams, functioning
15
of collection and drainage systems, and removal of water for irrigation. As a consequence, the tugai
forests north of the reservoir experience an increasingly greater negative effect of flooding whereas those
downstream the dam suffer from salinization and poor washing by high waters. Uncontrolled grazing of
an unlimited number of neat and small cattle is a major cause of pasture degradation both in the desert
and tugai forests. Fires have deleterious effect on tugai vegetation and animals. The reduction of tugai
woodlands and turning them over to various agricultural schemes as well as degradation of the remaining
ones may eventually end in their extinction. Illegal hunting, disappearance and degradation of natural
ecosystems are responsible for the population decline of ungulates including species listed in the Red
Data Books. Fish species artificially introduced to the local ecosystems either deliberately or accidentally
threaten the integrity of highly endemic autochthonous ichthyofauna.
13. Conservation measures taken
The site hosts the Amudarya state nature reserve that occupies an area of 49,514 ha. Its protection is a
responsibility of the staff of rangers who work on a rotation schedule. Territory patrolling is conducted
both within the limits of the nature reserve and at the adjacent lands beyond them. Nature protection
actions are also executed by the Lebapsky Department of Environmental Protection, State Fishing
Inspectorate, and forest guards of the "Gek-Gushak" open joint-stock enterprise.
14. Conservation measures proposed but not yet implemented
A zone of differentiated land use with the assured rational exploitation of natural resources incorporating
protected core areas.
The establishment of an adequately sized water-protection zone along the Amudarya River to
simultaneously serve as an ecological corridor (part of the ecological network including the Amudarya
state nature reserve as its core area). The extension of the range of big animals associated with tugai
forests, such as Bukhara Deer, may be achieved by the restoration of forest vegetation at an area of 1,000
ha or more on either side along the Amudarya Valley. Afforested sites need to be located 40-50 km apart
to serve as stop-overs for travelling animals.
15. Social and economic characteristics
The predominantly rural population of the area consists predominantly of Turkmens and minor fractions
of other nations, such as Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Russians, etc. Average life expectancy is 70 years (71.8
years in women and 69.9 years in men). Children constitute about 43% of the total while elderly subject
only 4%. The mean monthly wage is an important index of living standards. As per 2003, the average
worker of the state-run sector earned 1,750,000 manats per month. The highest wages are earned in such
industry as geological exploration and also in hydrometeorological services (2,514,200 manats), research
institutions (2,094,700), and transportation (2,031,600). The lowest-wage workers are employed in
agriculture (920,000 manats per month, i.e. 47% smaller than the country's average rate. In the Lebapsky
velayat, a state executive officer received in 2003 1,617,000 manats in a month while the local
agricultural labour force were paid 1,176,000 manats per month or 28% higher than the average per capita
income of those engaged in agriculture in Turkmenistan. Citizens of Turkmenistan enjoy several forms
of social protection, such as free of charge gas, water, and electricity supply (within the respective
established limits). The main fraction of personal income is spent on food (54% in the highest-paid and
72% in the lowest-paid groups of the population).
A peculiar feature of economy in Turkmenistan is granting benefits to farms and farmers delivering their
produce (grain, cotton, and sugar beet) to state procurement organs. In accordance with the acting
regulations, a farmer (tenant) pays roughly half the cost of the basic means of production (seeds, fuels and
lubricants, fertilizers, pesticides, and mechanical work). Moreover, cotton producers selling raw cotton to
processing plants are not only paid a set price but also receive oil and cotton-cake to feed live-stock.
Similarly, producers of grain are given back the wastes from of its processing to be used to the same
effect.
16. Environmental protection authorities and projects
Nature protection is the responsibility of the Amudarya state nature reserve and Turkmenabad
Department of Environmental Protection. The WWF Bukhara Deer project and the project on key
ornithological sites are being implemented in the area of interest. Water bodies, their flora and
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fauna are protected by the State Fishing Inspectorate.
Project devoted to the "Studies of biology and conservation of endangered sturgeon-fishes of genus
Pseudoscaphirhynchus in Central Asia" has been completed (CRDF, 2004-2005).
17. Scientific research and facilities
During the last 30 years, a wealth of multidisciplinary surveys have been conducted at the "Amudarya"
polygon. Tugai vegetation was studied by A.I. Gladyshev and N.V. Sinel'nikova, hymenopterans by V.L.
Perepechaenko, neuropterans by V.A. Krivokhvatsky, and coleopterans by Kh.I. Atamuradov. The
distribution and migrations of Amudarya Shovelnose were explored by V.B. Sal'nikov. Investigations
carried out by M.A. Golubev, A.B. Strel'tsov, V.V. Marochkina, N.S. Sokolova, and E.N. Agryzkov
concerned population dynamics and distribution of various reptile species. S.A. Bukreev, G.A. Lunina,
A.N. Poslavsky, V.V. Marochkina, and E.N. Agryzkov greatly contributed to bird studies. V.V.
Marochkina, O.B. Pereladova, E.N. Agryzkov, and N.S. Sokolova participated in teriological research.
Scientists of the Amudarya nature reserve perform regular (on an annual basis) monitoring mammalian,
reptilian, and avian populations at permanent study sites.
5. Description of the "Balkhan" polygon, Turkmenistan - an ECONET priority
area
1. "Balkhan" polygon includes 4 elements: Bol'shoy Balkhan Massiff proper with the Sekidag Range,
Maly Balkhan Range, Western Uzboy Valley (encompassing three freshwater lakes: Askhan, Topiyatan,
and Karategelek), and the low-mountain portion of the Bol'shoy Balkhan (No 19, 29, 21, and 22).
2. Compilers: Saparmuradov Dzh. - bird expert, head of the Laboratory of Vertebrates, National Institute
of Deserts, Flora and Fauna;
Berkeliev T. - biodiversity threat expert.
3. Polygon area
The total area of the "Balkhan" polygon is 560,000 ha. There are no designated protected areas within the
polygon bounds.
4. Altitude above sea level
The highest point of the area is Mountain Arlan (1,880 m above sea level); its lowland portion lies
between -27 and +100 m above sea level.
5. Criteria for inclusion in ECONET
Bol'shoy Balkhan and the adjoining Western Uzboy host rather peculiar flora and fauna. Bol'shoy
Balkhan is an isolated mountain range rising from the extensive desert plain of west Turkmenistan. It is
conjectured that such factors as isolation from larger mountain system, sharply continental climate, and
some other specific natural features promoted formation of the unique plant and animal kingdom of the
area. The local flora comprises 550 species of vascular plants of which 30 are referred to as rare or
endemic and 10 are listed in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan (1999 edition). Specific character of the
site's fauna is accentuated by the presence of Balkhan subspecies of such animals as Afghan Vole
(Microtus afghanus) and Collared Pika (Ochotona rufescens). Of the almost 200 vertebrate species
known from the Bol'shoy Balkhan and Western Uzboy area 10 are considered to be globally endangered
and listed in the IUCN Red Data Book. The national Red Data Book of Turkmenistan lists a total of 32
species including 2 insects, 2 fishes, 2 reptiles, 14 birds, and 12 mammals.
The mountains of Bol'shoy Balkhan make the northern border of the geographic ranges of such animals as
Urial, Ibex (Capra aegargus), and Leopard (Panthera pardus). To-day, they are listed in the IUCN Red
Data Book as globally threatened species although groups of 50-70 or more Wild Sheep and Goats are
known to have occurred in this area in the first half of the XXth century.
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The natural system of lakes in Western Uzboy is of special interest as harbouring relict fauna and flora
including certain species characteristic of the Aral and Caspian Seas. Lake Yaskhan is the sole waterbody
in the world inhabited by the dwarf form of Oriental Bream (Abramis brama orientalis). The Roach of
Uzboy (Rutilis ritilis uzboicus) is biologically and ecologically quite different from the Caspian form
(Rutilis rutilis); it is endemic to the Western Uzboy lakes. Being of no commercial value, these water
bodies may be regarded as unique natural laboratories that gave and still give rise to new forms of aquatic
life under the action of specific factors, such as isolation of local populations, highly unfavourable
feeding and other ecological conditions.
The lacustrine flora is equally specific. By way of example, it includes Common Bladderwort (Utricularia
vulgaris), an extremely rare aquatic insectivorous plant of paramount scientific interest because of its
characteristic biological properties. A few groves of desert poplar still exist at the shores of these lakes
and need to be adequately protected.
This ecological region comprises two closely located key ornithological sites, Bol'shoy Balkhan and
Western Uzboy. They are important not only for 14 rare and endangered bird species that occur here but
also for many more common ones frequenting these areas in one or another season.
The polygon hosts the most valuable historical and archeological objects, besides zoological and
botanical nature monuments. Of special interest are natural grottos whose origin goes back to the Midand Late-Stone Age; they are believed to have witnessed the dispersion of primitive man over the
territory of Central Asia (Dzhebel, Damdamcheshme 1 and 2, Oglanly Grottos).
6. Proposed status
An ecological core area with the buffer zone and ecological corridors.
7. Physical features (relief, hydrology, climate, soils)
The polygon comprises both high-mountain and lowland areas as well as transitional low-mountainous
and wavy plain relief. Mountain slopes feature marginal water springs. The climate of the polygon is arid
and sharply continental, with hot and dry summer and cold winter. Precipitation (the first hundreds of
millimetres) is most abundant in the period from October to March.
Most characteristic of the site are grey desert soils largely formed on loess-like fine-earth sedimentary
deposits. Certain mountain forms (steep precipices, cliffs, and peaks) are completely unloaded of any soil
cover. Large lowland areas are covered by sands or have takyr and solonchak soils.
8. Ecological features
The polygon is situated in the northern Central Asian desert belt and has an extremely dry climate. The
biodiversity of both Bol'shoy Balkhan and Western Uzboy exhibits a number of specific and unique
features due to the isolation of the former from other mountain systems and the latter from larger water
bodies. The hydrographic network of Bol'shoy Balkhan is very poorly developed; it has but a few minor
creeks and no permanent water courses. At the same time, more than 200 springs of different type are
known to exist in the area; the majority of them are marginal springs and their daily output does not
exceed a few liters. Nevertheless, local animals greatly benefit from the presence of these water sources.
Juniper forests play an important role in moisture accumulation from seasonal precipitation (fog, drizzle,
etc.). Four vertical vegetation zones are distinguished in the mountains of Bol'shoy Balkhan despite their
relatively small altitude. These are the piedmont desert, semidesert, semisteppe, and steppe belts. The
latter occupies the highest portions of the mountain range (1,400-1,800 m above sea level) and is
characterized by the profuse development of the vegetation cover typical of fescue-feather grass steppes.
The grassy vegetation also predominates at altitudes between 1,300 and 1,400 m above sea level; it is
largely composed of meadow grass-wheat grass associations. Generally speaking, the main factor that
promoted the development of the specific flora of Bol'shoy Balkhan is its isolation from other mountain
systems. Vertical zonation of vegetation accounts for the concentration of rich and diverse plant
communities at a relatively small territory giving home to drought-resistant plants perfectly adapted to the
extreme conditions of the mountain range being considered (Fig Tree, Desert Poplar, local variety of
Bird-Cherry Tree, etc.).
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Juniper forests are a most noteworthy natural feature of the Bol'shoy Balkhan Range where they make up
open stands covering vast areas over mountain slopes, largely starting from an altitude around 600 m
above sea level and going further up. In the recent past, these forests had also occurred at the foot of
Bol'shoy Balkhan but were exterminated there by felling. However, uncontrolled felling is not the sole
cause of disappearance of juniper forests at low altitudes for they also suffer from abusive overgrazing
and fires. Their loss enhances the risk of mud-and-stone flows and impairs availability of water for the
mountain ecosystem.
Characteristic plant communities of Western Uzboy are formed by open white saxaul stands and
phytocenochores over which they dominate, halophytic semishrub associations with annual saltwarts, and
halophitic grassy associations (plain and hummocky deserts including hyperhalophitic deserts, solonchak
depressions).
The natural resources of Bol'shoy Balkhan and Western Uzboy are exploited without regard for potential
after-effects. Human impacts (felling, overgrazing, man-made fires, illegal hunting, etc.) have deleterious
consequences for natural habitats and the abundance of many animals. On the other hand, this area
provides every opportunity for efficacious nature protection due to its isolated situation, clear-cut natural
boundaries, and simplicity of control. Moreover, the site lies rather far from the state frontier and
provides an easy access of tourists due to its location close to a motorway and a railway.
9. Noteworthy and protected objects
Great biodiversity of the area is accounted for by the presence of more than 550 species of vascular plants
and at least 200 species of vertebrates. Lower plants and invertebrates are very poorly known, but there is
little doubt that appropriate surveys would yield many interesting data. The freshwater lake system of
Uzboy is the sole place from which the occurrence of dwarf Oriental Bream and local variety of Roach
was reported. The local subspecies of Afghan Vole and Collared Pika are endemic to Bol'shoy Balkhan.
Vegetation also counts a few endemic forms, such as ---, etc. A large number of plants and animals are
listed in the Red Data Books of IUCN and Turkmenistan. Game species include Chukar (Alectoris
chukar); in summer-time, these birds gather in large flocks of 200-250 individuals and visit water springs.
Noteworthy flora: Turkmen Juniper (Juniperus turcomanica), Turkmen Cherry Tree (Cerasus
turcomanica), Milk Vetch (Astragalus ---), etc.
Noteworthy fauna: Cinereous Vulture, Lesser Kestrel, Bearded Vulture, Golden Eagle, Staker, Eagle
Owl, Short-toed Eagle, Chakur, See-see Partridge, Egyptian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Little Eagle,
Imperial Eagle, Stone Curlew, Shore Lark, Lesser White-fronted Goose, Marbled Teal, Ferruginous
Duck, White-headed Duck, Common Buzzard, Houbara Bustard, Cream-coloured Cours, Leopard, Urial,
Ibex, etc.
10. Land tenure/ownership
All land is state-owned. Pastures are usually leased to live-stock raising daikhan associations for a period
of 30 years.
11. Current nature use
The area is largely used as seasonal distant pastures to graze small cattle and camels. Deposits of
argillite, bentonit clays, building materials, and underground waters are developed.
12. Factors adversely affecting the site's ecological character
The principal factors threatening biodiversity of Bol'shoy Balkhan include illegal felling of juniper and
other trees (although its adverse effect has recently been decreasing), poaching (especially in summertime, including such barbarous methods as shooting big animals at watering places), uncontrolled abusive
cattle grazing, and frequent fires. Both deterioration of natural habitats and direct pursuit of animals have
brought to the edge of extinction such scavengers as Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), Cinereous
Vulture (Aegypius monachus), and Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) as well as other birds of prey with
Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Imperial Eagle (A. heliaca), and Little Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus)
among them. A small Leopard population is equally unsafe.
19
Current measures being taken to conserve the unique ichthyofauna of Western Uzboy are insufficient to
protect it from the existing threats posed by illegal net-fishing and catching rare species by anglers.
However, the most serious danger may come from the organization of a commercial fish farm if it is
permitted in any form on the Uzboy lakes. An attempts to this effect was already undertaken in the 1990s
when young Common Carps, Bighead Carps, and White Amurs were released in lake Yaskhan. Luckily,
they died failing to adapt themselves to very saline lake water.
The fish-stock resources of the Western Uzboy lakes are very poor and have no commercial value. At the
same time, the local ichthyofauna constitutes a unique element of biodiversity and is of great interest from
the scientific point of view as a source of data for research on systematics, survival under extreme natural
conditions, genetics and selection.
13. Conservation measures taken
There are no designated protected areas within the polygon bounds. However, the polygon is irregularly
patrolled by wardens of the Balkhan Department of Environmental Protection as a means of reducing
illegal felling and poaching.
14. Conservation measures proposed but not yet implemented
The area of Bol'shoy Balkhan and Western Uzboy is proposed to be designated as the Balhkan-Uzboy
state nature reserve with its further transformation to a national park comprising sites of different
protective regime.
It is believed that further impoverishment of local biodiversity can be most efficiently prevented by first
establishing Bol'shoy Balkhan nature reserve and Uzboy sakasnik. The nature reserve would be later
redesignated as a national park, with the former core area left strictly protected as before and the
protective regime extended to the surrounding low-mountain area and the piedmont plain. Inspection
raids would help to maintain adequate functioning of ecological corridors stretching eastwardly along the
Uzboy River towards Kaplankyr and Central Karakum, westwardly across elevated terrains towards
Kyuryanynkyure, and to the south-east towards Maly Balkhan-Kopetdag.
There is every reason to believe that the fauna and flora of this most interesting and rich natural area of
Turkmenistan will recover within a few years after the designation of the nature reserve and
implementation of adequate protective measure. Also, the establishment of the national park will
greatly promote knowledge of Bol'shoy Balkhan and Western Uzboy and turn it into a major tourist
attraction as a most popular and frequented part of the country. The site is of great scientific and cultural
value even if it has poor prospects for economic development.
15. Social and economic characteristics
The population of the area is concentrated in the city of Balkanabad and a few large settlements (Oglanly,
Dzhebel, etc). Most people are employed in mining and processing natural resources such as building
materials and especially gas and oil although their deposits are located outside the area.
16. Environmental protection authorities and projects
The territorial Department of Environmental protection is based at Balkanabad; it performs ecological
control and monitoring over the entire territory of the velayat. The project of establishing the Balkhan
state nature reserve is being elaborated by the Turkmen Ministry of Environmental Protection.
17. Scientific research and facilities
In the last years, several expeditions were sent by the Turkmen Ministry of Environmental Protection and
WWF to the Bol'shoy Balkhan and Western Uzboy area for its exploration by way of preparing the
establishment of the Balkhan nature reserve.
6. Description of the "Koitentag" polygon, Turkmenistan - an ECONET priority area
20
1. The "Koitendag" polygon is a complex of two elements: No 80, 81, and 82.
2. Compilers:
Kamakhina G.L. - flora and vegetation expert;
Berkeliev T. - biodiversity expert.
3. Polygon area
The total area of the "Koitendag" polygon is 335,000 ha. The afforested area controlled by the local
forestry is 10,879 ha, the Koitendag state nature reserve occupies an area of 11,314 ha.
4. Altitude above sea level
The highest point of the "Koitendag" polygon is Airibaba Mountain (3,139 m above sea level), the lowest
one lies at 280 m above sea level (Gaurdak).
5. Criteria for inclusion in ECONET
Four species of plants and 20 species of animals inhabiting the area are listed in the IUCN Red Data Book
as globally endangered ones. The Red Data Book of Turkmenistan (1999 edition) lists 7 local plant
species and 53 animals including 4 insectivorous species, 13 reptiles, 1 fish, 18 mammals, and 17 birds.
The greatest concern is the current state of Markhor (Capra falconeri), Brown Bear (Ursus arctor), Striped
Hyena (Hayena hayena), Lynx (Lynx lynx), and Bukhara Deer (Cervus elaphus bactrianus) populations.
Leopard (Panthera pardus) appears to be extinct in the area under consideration. Koitendag is a home of
130 species of medicinal plants and 41 wild-growing relatives of cultivated plants. Endemics of various
systematic ranks are represented by 8 fish species, 7 reptiles, and 13 mammals. Twenty three species of
Onions (Allium) grow in the wild at the periphery of their Pamiro-Alai range including Allium
oschaninii, wild-growing kindred of the cultivated Central Asian variety.
The "Koitendag" polygon is a natural refuge of flora and fauna where a small tract of wilderness
encompasses three quite different complexes: Turanian Desert, Kopetdag-Khorosan and Pamir-Alai
mountain systems. The polygon includes one key ornithological site (KOS) providing home to 12
endangered bird species.
In addition, the polygon hosts the Karlyuksky cave complex of national and international importance
where dinosaur trace fossils dating back to some 160 million years ago are preserved together with more
recent remains of extinct animals and traces of primitive man activity. Freshwater springs, sources of salt
and sulfur-hydrogen containing water together with karst lakes form a peculiar aspect of Koitendag that
makes it a promising area for the development of ecotourism.
6. Proposed status
An ecological core area. The Gaurdag-Koitendag massif is a polygon for the establishment of a national
park with functionally differentiated zones. The park will include the Koitendag state nature reserve as a
central core and its buffer zone the constituent parts of which will differ in terms of the land use regime,
such as temporary zakazniks, protective belts, and nature monuments including botanical objects (sacred
groves of pistachio, jujube and plane trees). The Koiten River will form a natural green corridor (where
the majority of the site's human population is concentrated).
7. Physical features (relief, hydrology, climate, soils)
The main source of biodiversity in the region under consideration is Kugitangtau Mountains with the
surrounding elevations of a smaller altitude that dominates the rest of the South Turanian desert
landscape. The mountain range stretches for about 85 km from the north-east to the south-west. Its
highest point is Airibaba Mountain (3,139 m above sea level), the lowest one lies at 500 m above sea
level. The western part of the Kugitangtau Range features the plain to mountainous relief fragmented by a
large number of long narrow canyons. Certain steep precipices are 200 m high. The range is composed of
Jurassic sedimentary rocks represented here by grey siliceous limestones, sandstones, gypsum, clay, and
conglomerates. Its eastern slope displays Paleosoic outcrops. The northern part of the Kugitangtau Range
is cut by several gorges.
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The Kugitangtau range has asymmetric slopes. The eastern slope (in Uzbekistan) is a steep, almost
precipitous, up to 500-600 m in height while the western one (in Turkmenistan) is more gentle and easier
of access. Cut by numerous deep gorges and ravines, it gradually descends towards the Kugitangdarya
Valley that separates the range from the neighbouring elevations of lower height. Widespread deposits of
limestone, gypsum, stone salt, and other rocks create favourable conditions for the formation of various
karst forms (caves, hollows, karst lakes, etc.). The Karlyuksky complex of karst caves (Kap-Kotan,
Khashym-Okzh, Gulshirin, Vertikal'ny, Dashyurak, Aralyk, and other caves) together with the Kyrk-Gyz
caves is a natural monument of national and international importance. Each cave is more than 500 m
long; taken together their corridors are as long as tens of kilometers.
The climate of the area influenced by the surrounding sand deserts is dry, sharply continental. The mean
annual temperature at 800 m above sea level is 16.3 ºC (20.0 ºC in July and -2.7 ºC in January) and drops
to 4.4 ºC at a height of 3,000 m above sea level. An opposite trend is apparent in the distribution of the
annual sum of precipitation that decreases with height (293 mm at 800 m with a maximum in March and
April and 400 mm or more at higher altitudes). The area has no permanent snow cover and drought
periods may last as long as a few consecutive years.
The hydrographic network is formed by the Kugitangdarya River (largely fed by underground waters) and
its right-hand tributaries. The river is 71 km long and has a basin measuring 1,013 sq. km. The region is
poor in terms of water sources, brackish water bodies prevail. Gorges make beds for seasonal freshwater
torrents. Some springs dry up by the end of summer. The network of underground water courses gives
rise to small lakes in karst caves and hollows or to small creeks at the ground surface (Mitzabedil'). The
karst lake Kattakul' near the settlement of Koiten is used as an irrigation reservoir.
The soil cover displays well-apparent vertical zonation. Light, dark, and typical grey soils are most
common spreading from foothills to 1,500 m above sea level. They originate from loess-like fine-earth
sedimentary deposits. The belt of mountain brown soils occupies altitudes from 1,600-1,900 to 2,800 m
above sea level. Their fine-earth layer is thin and further decreases with height. The subalpine belt above
2,800 m features light-brown meadow-steppe soils. Light-brown mountain-meadow soils occur higher
than 3,000 m above sea level. Certain places in the mountains (such as their tops, cliffs, and steep
precipices) are completely devoid of soil cover. The Kugitandarya Valley has vast areas of takyr and
solonetz-like soils.
8. Ecological features
Ecosystems of the area under consideration include habitats of rare, endemic, and endangered plants and
animals; hence, their paramount importance for biodiversity conservation. The site has a high potential
for recreational activities and the development of ecotourism. Vast erosive "bedlands" and cuestas at 400700 m above sea level are occupied by desertified low-herbaceous semisavannas and vegetation
overgrowing variously-coloured gypsum soils. Derivative communities of semisavanna (sagebrush and
sedge-sagebrush associations) predominate together with scrub complexes of xerophytic tress and bushes
and hammada communities developing on small hills of red-coloured sandstone. Indigenous feather
grass-fescue-wheat grass communities (from 900-1,200 to 1,600-1,900 m above sea level) co-exist with
high herbaceous associations involving sagebrush, almond and pistachio trees.
Juniper forests (Juniperus seravschanica) occur from 1,600-1,900 m above sea level up to 2,800 m where
they are substituted by tragacanthes communities of the subalpine belt. The highest part of the
Kugitangtau Range is practically unloaded of soil and vegetation. It is exposed to intense wind erosion
and rock decomposition.
Extensive economic developments (agricultural expansion) lead to the destruction and loss of habitats of
rare species and to environmental pollution (waste overburden rock and poor ore dumps and tailings; the
situation did not substantially improved despite the closing of the sulfur-producing facility in Gaurdak).
The developed lands are left by small borrowing animals while some reptiles die and others move to the
adjacent unaffected habitats. Effects of overgrazing are apparent at all altitudes but especially harmful in
the piedmont desert zone. They are responsible for the initial stages of desertification that affects the
22
natural flora and vegetation of Koitendag. Given specific physical features of the region (karst processes),
desertification is expected to progress at an increasingly higher pace.
Moreover, the wilderness and great natural beauty of the site with its cave complexes attract organized
and individual tourists on the one hand and aggravate pressure of illegal hunting (poaching) on the other
hand. Other adverse effects on the site include continued felling, cattle grazing, haymaking, collection of
medicinal and other valuable plants.
9. Noteworthy and protected objects
Polygon includes the Koitendag state nature reserve with differentiated protective regime of its selected
parts. The strictly protected core zone (the reserve proper) occupies 3.1% and zakaznik 11% of the total
area. The biodiversity of the "Koitendag" polygon is represented by a total of 1,212 species and
subspecies including 982 plants (39 local endemics, 12 (15) Gissaro-Koitendag subendemics and over 63
Pamiro-Alai species) and 230 animals (10 fish species, 2 amphibians, 28 reptiles, 134 birds, and 51
mammalian taxons). There are 240 species of lichens. One hundred and twenty (89.5%) of the 134 birds
inhabiting Koitendag are breeding species; 92 of them occur in the Koitendag nature reserve.
Taxonomically, the flora and fauna of the polygon is represented by 80-85% forms of the KugitangGaurdak site and by 65-70% forms of the Gissaro-Darvaz zone of the Mountain Central Asian province.
Kugitang ichthyofauna includes a unique fish species Starostin’s Stone Loach (Troglocobitis starostini), a
local endemic. Key plant species give rise to a unique complex of "variously-coloured vegetation",
xerophitic scrub, juniper stands and tragacanthes communities characterized by a high degree of
endemism (over 10%). The following species are considered to be economically important: Oshanin's
Onion (Allium oschaninii), a wild-growing kindred of the cultivated onion; Bunge (Allochrusa
gypsophiloides, the best saponin-bearing plant of Central Asia and Kazakhstan; and Common Pistachio
(Pistacia vera), a source of genetic material for the selection of domestic "Turkmen" varieties. A number
of game animals are also commercially important. Small groves of Common Jujube or Chinese Date Tree
(Ziziphus jujube) and Common Pistachio are worshiped by residents as sacred objects. Insular groves of
Oriental Plane (Platanus orientalis), a Paleogenic relict, may be seen in the mountains.
10. Land tenure/ownership
The polygon lies within the bounds of the Koitendagsky and Charshanginsky etraps of the Lebapsky
velayat. According to the Land Code of Turkmenistan, all lands in the region including those of
Koidendag nature reserve and its zakazniks as well as the lands of the Forest Fund managed by the
Koitendagsky Forestry are owned by the state. Agricultural lands are the property of 8 daikhan
associations.
11. Current land use
The majority of the local population are employed in agriculture. The agriculturally usable lands are
largely exploited as pastures and only 5% as personal household plots for subsistence farming. Recently,
increasingly more people are engaged in growing cotton and winter wheat, besides sheep raising.
Privately and daikhan-owned land plots are used by the residents for non-commercial cultivation of
vegetables, melons and gourds, grapes, and fruits. Part of the site is designated as strictly protected
natural territories. Koitendag lakes and other water bodies are supervised by the State Fishing
Inspectorate. Amateur angling and shooting are under public control executed by the local Hunting and
Fishing Society and the Turkmen Falconry Society entitled to set catch and bag limits by issuing relevant
licenses.
The region of Kotendag is one of the leading areas of Turkmenistan in terms of abundance and diversity
of natural resources. It has the largest deposits of stone salt, native sulfur, celestine, marble onix,
polymetals, and barite. Exploration for oil, gas, and metals is in progress.
12. Factors adversely affecting the site's ecological character
The local population has to collect firewood for the lack of centralized gas supply. Hence, an extensive
cutting of trees and bushes of the main forest-forming varieties. This activity is responsible for soil
erosion at deforested mountain slopes that affects 8.6% of the site's surface. Overgrazing has deleterious
effect on the populations of small mammals (especially Forest Dormouse) and serpemts. An increasing
23
number of domestic animals contributes to focal desertification of land plots in the vicinity of wintering
sites, watering places, and water springs.
The irrational exploitation of natural resources (illegal hunting and fishing, uncontrolled cattle grazing,
felling, drying of water bodies, haymaking, gathering of pistachio nuts, collection of medicinal and other
valuable plants, commercial bird catching (Staker and other birds of prey) for international trade, damage
of birds (Staker) in breeding seasons) have adverse effect on biodiversity of the region. These negative
influences are exacerbated by the introduction of various fish species to Kugitang water bodies from other
areas of the country. This practice has resulted in the establishment of thriving population of alien fishes
in local small ponds and reservoirs. Specifically, Mosquito Fish, highly predatory Sheatfish (Silurus
glanis), and commercially valuable Chinese species: White Amur or Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon
idella) and Bighead or Silver Carp (Hipophithalmichthys molitrix) were earlier released by residents in
certain water bodies of Kugitang.
Every year, mud-and-stone flows become increasingly frequent and create a serious risk for the fish
inhabiting karst lakes. Fires destroy forest massifs and habitats of Lynx and Bukhara Deer; also, they
undermine reptilian populations. The natural beauties of the site and its karst cave complexes attract
unorganized tourists (the area yearly receives up to 5,000-6,000 persons).
13. Conservation measures taken
Polygon hosts the Koitendag state nature reserve covering an area of 27,139 ha and its 4 zakazniks:
Karlyuksky (40,000 ha), Khodzhaburdzhibelendsy (17,532 ha), Khodzhapil'sky (31, 635 ha), and
Khodzhakarakul'sky (6,000 ha). The total area of SPNAs is 122,306 ha or 14.1% of the polygon.
The present size of the nature reserve is sufficient to ensure adequate protection of small animals and
maintain the viability of populations of big mammals, such as Urial and Striped Hyena (provided they
have enough food or prey). Wild Boars and Bukhara Deer are known to move beyond the bounds of the
nature reserve. Some habitats of rare and endemic species of plants and animals (15-20%) also remain
unprotected. The protection activity in the nature reserve and its zakazniks is performed in the form of
territory patrolling (inspection raids) and through a system of guard control posts. A major concern
of the staff performing practical protection is the prevention of forest fires. The system of protected
natural areas of the Koitendag nature reserve encompasses a stretch of lands along the TurkmenistanUzbekistan frontier; it adjoins the Surkhandarya nature reserve.
14. Conservation measures proposed but not yet implemented
It is proposed that a national park (element No 44) be set up within the bounds of the "Koitendag"
polygon based at the existing nature reserve, with functionally differentiated zones including one of
regulated land use; this would provide the basis for the establishment of zakaznik in No 43 area.
The national park (NP) must be the main protected element. The designation of NP would greatly
facilitate management of both protected and unprotected areas of Koitendag. The differential protective
regime (including permanent and temporary protection) will make it possible to include ecological
restoration sites in ECONET. The efficiency of conservation measures at the "Koitendag" polygon may
be improved by linking the existing protected areas of the Koitendag nature reserve via a system of green
corridors. At present, the function of corridors is performed by the Koitendagdarya River valley, brushand woodlands, and other landscape elements that have no formal status of protected objects or areas but
provide shelter for wildlife and vulnerable plant species. The sites where rare species are concentrated
(e.g. juniper stands of the Khodzhapil'sky zakaznik and pistachio forests in the Khodzhaburdzhibelendsky
zakaznik) must be designated as protected natural areas for resource management (PNA) as a prerequisite
for their sustainable exploitation. Other recommendations include organization of a zakaznik to protect
pistachio vegetation of the Malik Range (Khodzazhuvan-Chalma) and another one in the Shurak terrain,
designation of the tugai woodland of Dzharguzer in the Amudarya Valley (near Kelif) as a protected
natural area, and designation of the pistachio grove in the Khodzhaburdzhibelend Gorge as a state nature
monument. The UNDP/GEF project "Conservation of biodiversity and landscape diversity of Kugitan
Mountains in Turkmenistan" has been implemented at PDF stage "A". The completion of the next stage
will lay a basis for the improvement of the management program for the Koitendag state nature reserve.
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15. Social and economic characteristics
Population of the region comprised by Turkmens and Uzbeks is concentrated in the settlements of
Magdanly, Karlyuk, Svintsovy Rudnik, Koiten, etc.
The polygon encompasses Charshanginsky and Koitendagsky etraps of the Lebapsky velayat (formerly
Chardzhouskaya region). Fifty thousand people (40% of the total population) live in 5 settlements located
close to the SPNA. The settlements have centralized gas supply. The region hosts 8 daikhan associations
and the Koitendagsky Forestry. Prior to 2000, the main industry was sulfur mining that has been stopped
since that time. Production of stone salt, gypsum, and building materials is still underway.
About 60% of the agricultural lands are exploited as distant pastures to rise sheep for karakul lamb pelt,
wool and meat (at an average rate of 3-4 sheep per individual flock owner). Only 5% of the agriculturally
usable land is in private ownership providing households with vegetables, melons and gourds, grapes, and
fruits). Recently, a fraction of the rural population has become engaged in growing cotton, rice, and
winter wheat (on partly irrigated plots).
16. Environmental protection authorities and projects
Environmental protection in the region is expected to be enhanced after the implementation of the UNDP
project "Improvement of the management of protected areas in Turkmenistan" (2003-2006). The national
park to be established in the Koitendagsky etrap will include a protected natural area for resource
management (buffer zone) and promotion of tourism. The UNDP/GEF project "Conservation of
biodiversity and landscape diversity of Kugitan Mountains in Turkmenistan" has been implemented at
PDF stage "A". The completion of the next stage will provide the basis for the improvement of the
management program in the Koitendag state nature reserve.
17. Scientific research and facilities
Since 1987, scientists of the Koitendag state nature reserve and the National Institute of Deserts, Flora
and Fauna have carried out joint studies in the framework of the long-term research project "Scientific
basis for ecosystem protection and restoration in Koitendag and the adjoining piedmont plain". This work
includes inventory and assessment of protected objects and monitoring biological resources.
7. Description of the "Kopetdag" polygon, Turkmenistan - an ECONET priority area
1. The "Kopetdag" polygon is a complex of elements No 18, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35,
36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 48.
2. Compilers:
Kamakahina G.L - flora and vegetation expert;
Berkeliev T. - biodiversity expert.
3. Polygon area
The total area of the "Kopetdag" polygon is 4,440.000 ha or 4.8% of the country's territory. Its northeastern part has an area of 1,300,000 ha, south-western part 693,700 ha, central part 279,100 ha, and the
East Kopetdag edge 85,200 ha.
4. Altitude above sea level
Kopetdag is a mountain system with altitudes ranging from 200 m above sea level (piedmont deserts and
adyrs (slightly hilly or wavy terrains)) to 1,900 m (Uchkui Mountain) in the west and from 250-400 m to
2,889 m (Chapan Mountain) above sea level in the east.
5. Criteria for inclusion in ECONET
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Seventeen species of plants and 30 of animals inhabiting Kopetdag are globally endangered and listed in
the IUCN Red Data Book. The national Red Data Book of Turkmenistan lists 79 species of plants and 76
animal species. As many as 18% of the plants hosted by the site are endemics. Even more species occur
here at the eastern limit of their ranges. Kopetdag is a centre of origin of wild-growing relatives of many
cultivated plants (75 species). The gene fund of cereal and leguminous crops and of more than 40 kindred
species of orchard fruits is conserved in the area. Two key ornithological sites (IBA) are distinguished
within the bounds of the polygon.
6. Proposed status
Tree ecological core areas (South-East, Central, and East Kopetdag) surrounded by a buffer zone and
connected via ecological corridors. The South-West Kopetdag is a polygon for the establishment of the
first national park having a strictly protected core area and a buffer zone where the environmentally
friendly use of natural resources will be permitted. The present Kopetdag state nature reserve in the
central part of the mountain system constitutes the first-order core area with the buffer zone that may be
redesignated as a national park in the future. The rest of the North-West Kopetdag is regarded as a buffer
zone of differentiated land use. The status of West Kopetdag is that of a zakaznik with several strictly
protected areas.
7. Physical features (relief, hydrology, climate, soils)
The Kopetdag Range is the northern part of the Turkmen-Khorosan mountain system that to a certain
extent determines climatic features of southern Turkmenistan. It accumulates fresh water and serves as its
source. Moreover, it is important in terms of soil-forming processes and is a centre of origin of the stock
of genes accounting for biodiversity of the local flora and fauna. Structurally, the Kopetdag Range is
subdivided into North-East, South-West, Central, and East Kopetdag. The entire area is characterized by
high seismic activity. It climate is largely dry, sharply continental excepting dry subtropics of South-West
Kopetdag. Precipitation is most abundant in the winter-spring season (from 100 to 380 mm near
Koinekasyr). The hydrographic network is poorly developed. The largest rivers are most characteristic
of South-West Kopetdag even though they frequently dry up and become very shallow. In certain years,
high-waters cause mud-and-stone flows. The soils of Kopetdag are represented by their 3 main types, viz.
desert grey soils, light-brown dry steppe soils, and meadow soils of the grey-soil zone.
8. Ecological features
Open woodlands with shrubs, herbaceous communities (savannoids and phryganoids in high-mountain,
piedmont, and mountainous areas). Perennial saltwart associations and phytocenochores with the
predominance thereof (piedmont and low-mountain deserts, plain and hummocky deserts). Sagebrush
associations and phytocenophores over which they predominate; tree-shrub-herb-grass communities of
desert poplar and tamarisk tugai forests (tugais, brush thickets in meadows and deserts, river floodplains).
Psammophytic shrub, psammophytic semishrub associations and phytocenohores dominated by them;
annual saltwart, halophytic semishrub, and halophytic grassy communities; annual and biennial
communities and phytocenohores with the predominance thereof (deserts, hyperhalophytic deserts and
savannoids in plain and hummocky topgraphy, in piedmont and low-mountain terrains or foothill and
mountainous areas, solonchak depressions), semishrub vegetation. Agriculturally usable lands are largely
exploited as pastures for neat and small cattle and only a minor portion of them as personal household
plots for fruit orchards, cultivation of irrigated cotton and vegetables or non-irrigated wheat. Some places
suffer overgrazing that leads to the removal of the soil cover and exposition of the underlying bed-rocks
(formation of "bedlands").
9. Noteworthy and protected objects
The Kopetdag flora comprises approximately 1,800 plant species largely of ancient Mediterranean or
East-Mediterranean origin; it is characterized by rather a high index of endemism (18%). Rare junipersteppe, xerophytic woodland, and poplar tugai edificatory communities in conjunction with associations
of hydrophilous species of families Orchidaceae and Liliaceae, ferns and fern-like plants
(Polypodiophyta), etc. account for the unique landscape diversity of the region. Vegetation of broad-leaf
stands of Girkan origin is a relict of Tertiary floodplain forests; it is represented by wild-growing Oriental
Plane (Platanus orientalis), Walnut (Juglans regia), Apple (Malus sieversii var. turkmenorum) and Pea
Trees with an admixture of Pomegranate (Punica granatum) and other plants.
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As many as 121 breeding birds are known to occur in Central Kopetdag and about 300 species in SouthWest Kopetdag. They include many birds of prey (Red-capped Falcon, Peregrine, Staker, Bonelli's
Eagle), bioindicators of natural environment quality listed in the Red Data Books of IUCN and
Turkmenistan. Breeding groups of Black Francolin constitute the core of its South-Kopetdag population.
The autochthonous ichthyofauna of the Sumbar River is represented by 6 species (subspecies) three of
which do not occur in any other area of Turkmenistan. Only Kopetdag still hosts natural habitats of such
rare animals as Leopard and Snowcock as well as certain rare plants (e.g. Mandragora turcomanica, etc.).
The number of Leopards (Panthera pardus ssp. saxicolor), an endangered species listed in the IUCN Red
Data Book (2000 edition), increased from 70-75 animals in 1999 to 85-90 in 2004. To-day, the
population appears to be stable. The area between the Tedzhen River and Chil'keman (locality of
"Durnali" in the piedmont area of East Kopetdag) is a migration route of Sandhill Crane (up to 20,000
birds recorded annually) and Houbara Bustard. Local endemic plants of East Kopetdag include
Astragalus meanus (Dagbulak Range), Pterocephalus fruticulosus (Dagbulak Range), Ficus
afghanistanica (Dagbulak Range), Tulipa lehmannia, and Pteropyrum aucheri (Karatekyan Gorge) and
await an in-depth study.
The protected natural areas of Central Kopetdag include the Kopetdag state nature reserve (49,800 ha)
and Kurukhoudansky zakaznik (15,000 ha), those of East Kopetdag the Meana-Chaachinsky zakaznik
(60,000 ha), and the nature monument Charlyk (pistachio grove at an area of 2,000 ha). The adjoining
zone of South-West Kopetdag has the nature monument Kara-Yalchy (a unique 20 ha Walnut grove).
Moreover, South-West Kopetdag hosts the Syunt-Khasardagsly state nature reserve (26,500 ha) and the
zakaznik of the same name (3,800 ha). The total area of protected natural areas amount to 157,120---??
ha (or 6.7% of the Kopetdag territory).
The national heritage of Turkmenistan includes a unique gene bank of fruit tree species stored in the
Garrygalinsky Research and Production Experimental Centre of Genetic Resources. As many as 4,040
specimens of fruit trees, kindred of cultivated varieties, maintained at the Central Asian Genetic Centre
have been collected in the dry subtropic zone of the Makhtumkuliysky (Garrygalinsky) etrap. Thus far,
450 plants of Turkmenian origin and 1,000 indigenous regional ones have been identified.
10. Land tenure/ownership
All land is state-owned. Certain plots are leased to tenants who take upon themselves to perform a state
order (cultivation of cotton or wheat). Pastures are usually leased to live-stock raising daikhan
associations for a period of 30 years.
11. Current land use
The main land users (for irrigated crop farming and live-stock raising) are the rural population. Small
plots are occupied by state- or privately managed fruit orchards and vegetable gardens. A variety of
building materials (dolomite, gypsum, limestone, quartz sand, etc.) are excavated in the region. Industrial
estates are concentrated in the metropolitan agglomeration (Ashkhabad, Bezmein, Annay, and minor
settlements).
12. Factors adversely affecting the site's ecological character
Natural habitats undergo reduction under effect of human activities (agricultural expansion, disturbed
hydrological regime, overgrazing, felling, fires, road construction) and environmental factors (sea level
fluctuations, global warming, droughts, etc.).
Progressive global warming is responsible for the enhanced frequency of winter "droughts" and increased
spring precipitation. The process of overall xerophytization of the flora accelerates the loss of fern-like
and mesophytic species especially some tree species and orchids. The gene fund of fruit species is at risk
of erosion created by the disappearance of wild-growing relatives of apricot, apple and pea trees, grapes,
rowan, walnut, etc. Geographic ranges of some species contract. Irrational land use is a cause of soil
salinization and pollution with pesticides that aggravate the consequences of man-induced desertification.
Cutting of trees and bushes for firewood continues. Other important threats include the overuse of certain
plants at the local level (illegal hunting, overgrazing, gathering nuts and berries, collection of medicinal
plants) and international trade in valuable natural objects.
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13. Conservation measures taken
Polygon has 2 state nature reserves, 3 zakazniks, and 3 botanical monuments of nature; their area totals
157 120 ha. The nature reserves and zakazniks occupy 3.2 and 3.3% of the total polygon (Kopetdag) area
respectively. The protection activity in the nature reserves is performed in the form of territory patrolling
(inspection raids) and through a system of guard control posts. Both the location and the shape
of the nature reserves are inadequate for efficacious biodiversity conservation; in other words, it can not
properly execute the scheduled tasks in the present-day boundaries.
14. Conservation measures proposed but not yet implemented
In the near future, national parks are expected to be a principal territorial form of nature protection in
Turkmenistan. Kopetdag will host two such parks with regulated land use in the buffer zone and
ecological corridors. Sumbarsky national park (NP) projected in the Makhtumkulinsky (Karrykalinsky)
etrap will be surrounded by a protected natural area for resource management (buffer zone) and
promotion of ecotourism. The Kopetdag state nature reserve in Central Kopetdag will exist as it is, with
its zakazniks and the buffer zone of regulated land use. North-West Kopetdag will have the status of a
controlled land use zone. Zakaznik with strictly protected (temporary) sites needs to be set up in East
Kopetdag. Ecological corridors will be protected as regulated land use zones and patrolled by waders of
the nature reserves. National parks will also include ecological restoration sites.
15. Social and economic characteristics
Kopetdag is a region of small towns, settlements and mountain auls (villages). The majority of the
residential population is concentrated in the city of Ashkhabad, capital of the country where most people
are employed in industry, educational and other institutions. The remaining population lives in foothill
oases and is engaged in agricultural production.
16. Environmental protection authorities and projects
Since 1999, WWF has been actively involved in the conservation of rare species and the salvage of
endangered ones (e.g. Leopard, Asiatic Wild Ass) in South-West Kopetdag and Central Kopetdag. This
international non-governmental organization supported two ambitious projects implemented in the region.
Moreover, the project on the "Improvement of the management of protected areas in Turkmenistan"
stipulates elaboration of the national plan for the development of NP, in the first place the Sumbarsky
national Park in South-West Kopetdag. PDF stage "B" of the regional UNEP/GEF /IPGRI project "Insitu/on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity in Central Asia" has the objective to promote conservation
of Kopetdag wild-growing relatives of cultivated plants.
17. Scientific research and facilities
Scientists of the Koitendag state nature reserve and the National Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna
continue applied studies of Kopetdar wildlife and vegetation even if on a reduced scale.
8. Description of the "Central Karakumy" polygon, Turkmenistan - an ECONET priority
area
1. The polygon of "Central Karakumy" (CK) includes a complex of elements No 42 (northern part of the
Central Karakum Desert with the southern edge of Zanguzsky Karakum), No 44 (characteristic central
and southern parts of Karakum), and a small portion of the southern part of Karakum.
2. Compilers: Kurbanov O.P. nature monument expert, leading research scientist of the Institute of
Deserts, Flora and Fauna, Turkmen Ministry of Environmental Protection.
3. Polygon area
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The area of the "Central Karakumy" polygon totals 1,853.000 ha. The total area of the projected CentralKurakumy nature reserve, its Desert Museum, and buffer zone (i.e. zakaznik of the same name) is
905,000 ha (1.84% of the country's territory or 2.5% of the Karakum Desert). The nature reserve will
have three strictly protected core areas with a total area of 150,000 ha.The Desert Museum will occupy
5,000 ha adjoining the Unguzsky core area. The Central Karakumy zakaznik (745,000 ha) will serve as
the buffer zone for both the protected core areas and the Desert Museum. The Garrygul'sky part of the
zakaznik is an isolated site in the south of the region under consideration where it occupies and area of
5,000 ha.
4. Altitude above sea level
"Central Karakumy" polygon is a part of the geomorphological region of the same name that developed
from the earlier- and mid-Quaternary pra-Amudarya riverbed. It is a sand-clay plain with the highest
elevations of 50-150 m (Chokrakbeyik Heights, 143 m above sea level). Certain sites are as high as 165 m
(Oklydag Mountain) and 171 m (Gulmetag Mountain at the northern edge of Unguz). The northern part of
the region is dominated by barkhan ridges (relative height 5-20 m, absolute height 100-200 m above sea
level). The ancient Tedzhen River mouth features small and mid-size ridges 3-15 m in height.
5. Criteria for inclusion in ECONET
The site includes a unique complex of sand, clay, and solonchak deserts (the existing SPNAs protect only
3 of the eight desert types). It lies at the junction of important ecological corridors, two sublatitudinal
ones and two diagonal (i.e. stretching in the north-west direction). Areas to be included in ECONET were
chosen taking into consideration the necessity to create a network of nature reserves encompassing the
entire unique biological and landscape diversity of the country (in the first place, that of Central
Karakum) as underscored by the President of Turkmenistan. The concept behind the designation of the
Central Karakumy nature reserve is in line with the provisions of the President's National Program
"Strategy of socio-economic developments in Turkmenistan for the period till 2010". The concept is
designed to promote realization of the goals stipulated in the National Review (“Sustainable development
of Turkmenistan”) for Rio+10, 2002.
The desert landscape complex of the CK polygon and the adjacent areas incorporates a total of 293 plant
species (including 210 vascular and over 80 lower plants); its undergrazed plots host the desert moss
(Tortula desertorum). The local flora includes no plants listed in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan but
contains 6 species that require special protection (see point No 7). The fauna comprises over 1,000
species. Fifteen of them are listed in the national Red Data Book of Turkmenistan (3 reptiles, 7 birds, and
5 mammals).
6. Proposed status
The CK polygon is a complex of two ecological core areas subject to strict protection and regulated land
use.
7. Physical features (relief, hydrology, climate, soils)
In terms of climatic zonation, Central Karakum is referred to the southern desert region with its typical
subtropical climate of continental deserts. Its major characteristics are the extremely dry air, small
cloudiness, poor precipitation, very high summer and rather low winter temperatures, sharp diurnal
fluctuations of the air temperature and even more prominent ones of the sand surface temperature. Also,
sand deserts are characterized by intense solar radiation (up to 50 kcal per year).
Annual temperature averages from 14.5º to 18.3 ºC (mean long-term value 16.3 ºC). In the long run,
average monthly air temperature is invariably above 0 ºC (above 20 ºC during the five summer months
from May to September). In certain years, however, negative average monthly temperature was recorded
in the period from December to February. The number of days with the mean daily temperature below 0º
C varies in different years from 10 to 50. The absolute air temperature minimum (-31.0 ºC) was recorded
in January 26, 1969.
The length of the dry and hot period is 5-6 months. Based on extremely high average daily air and sand
surface temperatures (29-33º C and 37-40º C respectively) characteristic of the summer months, the
region is referred to as one of the hottest on the Earth. Air temperature reaches maximum values in July.
29
The wind regime is highly seasonal. Northerly winds prevail from April through October. In November,
the direction of prevailing winds changes to the opposite, and in the winter-time southerly winds
predominate in the region. Sand and dust movements are inherent in sandy deserts. Weakly-fixed sands,
dry air, and strong winds are responsible for frequent sand storms. In the region being considered, sand
storms largely occur in summer seasons when the ephemeral vegetation is completely dried up and the
surface sand layers are equally desiccated.
The Central Karakum Desert occupies accumulative lowlands which predetermines the main relief
features of this area. It is largely an inclined plain with only minor differences between absolute altitudes
of its individual parts.
The origin of the majority of sedimentary deposits goes back to the Mesozoic, Paleogenic, and NeogeneQuaternary periods.
The soil-forming process in sandy deserts proceeds under very uniform conditions (sand substrate, deficit
of air and soil moisture, and sharp temperature fluctuations).
The region is dominated by sand desert soils developing over deposits of the Karakum alluvial suite. As a
rule, they undergo no salinization or may be slightly or moderately salinized locally. In terms of soluble
salt composition, they are divided into calcium-sodium and chlorine-hydrocarbon-sulfate soils. Highly
mobile barkhan sands have practically no soil cover. Normally, barkhans are homogeneous accumulations
of sand lacking any apparent differentiation into genetic horizons.
8. Ecological features
(a) Unguz core area (80 km east of Derveze) is a 30 km long tract of desert stretching southward from the
depression of the same name. The site features a variety of sand desert land-forms from bare barkhans to
sandy mounds and ridges fixed by small patches of desert forest in combination with thin sand deposits at
the surface of open plots and fragments of solonchak desert in the Unguz Depression.
(b) Erbent core area (35 km east of the settlement of the same name) is a long stretch of desert reaching as
far as the Ishimadzhi well and featuring a unique landscape of mid-height hills and ridges formed by
barkhan sands (in the north-western part of the site) alternating with fixed sands and wind-blown hollows
(in the eastern part).
(c) Bokurdak core area (60 km east of the settlement of the same name) is a natural complex of partially
degraded sand desert (around the Kerpichli and Mollakurban wells) and tugai woodlands (Torsukly and
Bulanyk wells) where mobile sands tend to be fixed and vegetative succession occurs resulting in the
displacement of drought-resistant desert plants by phreatophytic and hydrophytic vegetation of patchy
tugai forests and reservoirs created for the reception of water from the collection and drainage system.
(d) Ecological conditions of the CK zakaznik are characterized by a combination of sand and clay deserts
(in the southern part) with solonchak desert plots (in the Unguz Depression). An expedition organized by
the Turkmen Ministry of Environmental Protection revealed the following varieties of desert landscape:
White saxaul stands with sedges (8,000 ha), Unguz gypsum riverbed with a solonchak (40,000 ha), and a
combination of sand and clay deserts (a complex of ridges and takyrs at natural water catchment plots).
The Karrykul'sky part of the Central Karakumy zakaznik with two permanent study sites has artificially
planted stands of saxaul, grey sagebrush, and thistle brought into being to evaluate and compare the
efficiency of different sheep grazing schemes and special constructions to study accumulation, storage,
and utilization of precipitation run-off. In addition, there are pistachio plantations.
The proposed SPNA status does not infringe upon interests of the local population since there are no
settlements within 15 km from the boundaries of the projected ecological core areas. These areas are
rarely used as seasonal distant pastures. Exploration of the Unguz core area and the northern part of the
Central Karakumy zakaznik (52,000 ha) by expeditions of the Turkmen Ministry of Environmental
protection jointly with representatives of the khyakimlik (regional administration) of the Akhalsky
velayat has shown that they are used to graze sheep and camels by the residents of two (Rukhabatsky and
30
Akbugdaisky) etraps. In summer seasons, only 3 or 4 sheep flocks are usually present in these areas while
in winter-time the number of state- and privately-owned herds sometimes amounts to 14, each comprising
600-700 animals. In certain years, the total number of live-stock brought to the area under consideration
may be as high as 10,000 sheep and 600 camels. The polygon has poor prospects for crop farming
because it is lacking in water and has a highly fragmented relief. Nor has it any value as a shooting
ground due to low natural productivity of the local game populations. Moreover, it is difficult of access
and rarely visited by residents in search of firewood since it has very sparse and low-growing tree and
shrub vegetation. Taken together, these features account for the preservation of relatively intact desert
plots in the area projected for the designation as SPNA despite occasional overgrazing and the resulting
impoverishment of local plant communities and lowering of their productivity.
9. Noteworthy and protected objects
(a) noteworthy geological and geomorphological objects are found in some places of the Unguz
Depression (fragments of the ancient Amudarya riverbed); residual sulfur mounds (Garachulba,
Kyrkchulba, Chemmerli) are located at the latitude of Kukurtly settlement, depizes or wind-blown
hollows near the settlements of Chalysh and Bokurdak, and classical aeolian relief forms of the Central
Karakum Desert with a complex of ridges and takyrs in the vicinity of the Garrygul'sky permanent study
site;
(b) hydrological and aqueous objects are represented by experimental wells of the "chyrla" type for the
collection of natural precipitation at the the Garrygul'sky permanent study site;
(c) zoological objects (entries into the Red Data Books) include Toad-headed Agama (Phrynocephalus
rossikowi), Desert Monitor (Varanus griseus), Central Asian Cobra (Naja oxiana), Short-toed Eagle
(Circaetis ferox), Golde Eagle (Aquilla chrysaetos), Staker (Falco cherrug), Stone Curles (Burhinus
oedicnemus), Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotes indulata), Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo), Dsert Sparrow (Passer
simplex), Honey Badger (Mellivora capensis), Caracal (Felis caracal), Persian Gazelle (Gazella
gutturosa), Indian Crested Porcupine (Hystrix indica), Blandford's Jerboa (Jaculus blandfordi), and
Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena);
(d) botanical objects include four valuable Karakum endemics: Eremosparton flaccidum, Astragalus
maximowiczii, Ormopterum turcomanicum, and Ferula karakumika.
The natural complex of the CK polygon has a great potential for the conservation of typical desert plant
and animal communities by virtue of relatively weak transformation of its desert landscape and sparse
human population.
10. Land tenure/ownership All land is state-owned. Pastures are usually leased to live-stock raising
daikhan associations for a period of 30 years.
11. Current nature use
The area is largely used as seasonal distant pastures for grazing small cattle and camels.
The Central Karakum Oasis depends on the water supply through the water conduit from the Karakum
River to the settlement of Erbent constructed in the 1980s for the irrigation of rangelands and crop grown
for reserve fodder. Many settlements receive water through side pipe-lines originating from the main; for
all that, the total area of irrigated lands in the oasis does not exceed 1,000 ha.
12. Factors adversely affecting the site's ecological character
Adverse human impacts include overgrazing, illegal shooting of Persian Gaselle, Porcupine, Hare, and
Houbara Bustard as well as felling for firewood.
The construction and exploitation of Lake Turkmen (storage reservoir0 with its collector system may
result in alterations of the soil and vegetation cover, wildlife, and other natural components. These may
be of two sorts: enrichment of feeding grounds on the one hand and the appearance of anthropogenic
objects on the other hand.
31
The southern part of the region with a rapidly developing process of vegetation succession under effect of
temporary discharge ponds for the reception of water from the collection and drainage system provides
favourable conditions for Wild Boar, Jackal, River Otter, and shore species that tend to replace typical
desert animals.
13. Conservation measures taken
At present, ecological core areas and the zakaznik of the projected CentralKarakumy nature reserve
remain unprotected excepting two Garrygulk'sky permanent study sites of the National Institute of
Deserts, Flora and Fauna, Turkmen Ministry of Environmental protection; they are used for seasonal
grazing sheep and camels by the residents of the Akbugdaysky, Tedzhensky, Rukhabatsky, and Kakinsky
etraps of the Akhalsky velayat.
14. Conservation measures proposed but not yet implemented
"The rationale for the designation of the Central Karakumy state nature reserve with the Desert Museum"
has been prepared.
The Central Karakumy nature reserve will consist of three isolated strictly protected core areas and
zakaznik of the same name.
The following core areas will be set up: (a) Unguz core area (60,000 ha) in the Akbugdaysky,
Tedzhensky, and Rukhabatsky etraps; (b) Erbent core area (360,000 ha) in the Akbugdaysky and
Rukhabatsky etraps; and (c) Bokurdak core area (60,000 ha) in the Kakinsky, and Rukhabatsky etraps.
The Central-Karakumy part of the zakaznik of the same name (745,000 ha) will occupy the territories of
the Akbugdaysky, Tedzhensky, Kakinsky, and Rukhabatsky etraps and the Garrygul'sky part of the
zakaznik (5,000 ha) will be located in the Geokdepinsky etrap. The Desert Museum (5,000) will be
organized at the territory of the Rukhabatsky etrap. The two parts of the zakaznik will serve as a buffer
zone with the controlled land use.
15. Social and economic characteristics
The region under discussion is an area of small and sparsely located settlements. The rural population
density is generally below one person per sq. km and increases to 1-10/sq. km only where people gather
in small populated localities. As per 2005, the population of the CK region totaled roughly 16,500
persons. The site is crossed by the Ashkhabad-Karakumy-Dashoguz railway on which new stations are
being built. Part of the population is employed in construction works. Others practice live-stock raising
based on the use of distant pastures.
16. Environmental protection authorities and projects
The Centre for Desertification Control (CDC) coordinates implementation of the joint GTZ/CCDNational Institute of Deserts project "Combating land degradation in three regions of Turkmenistan". The
objective of the project is to improve living conditions of the local population by the promotion of a selfassistance potential in relieving pressure on natural resources; adaptation and application of
desertification control methods; dissemination of experience in the fields of desertification control and
sustainable management of land resources at the national, subregional, and international levels.
17. Scientific research and facilities
The southern part of the area (a stripe of lands along the Main Collector and the southern part of Central
Karakum) was explored by the scientists of the National Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna in the
framework of the research project "Monitoring and evaluating water, land, and vegetation resources" in
2001-2005.
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