Afghanistan's first national park opens
An area in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountains has been established as the country’s first national park, following a joint effort by the Afghan and US governments and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
At 590 square kilometres, Band-e-Amir National Park – meaning ‘dam of the Amir’ – encompasses six brilliant-blue freshwater lakes (below) nestled in a landscape of sheer cliff faces and natural dams formed from travertine – a porous calcium carbonate rock that was used in the construction of several historic buildings, such as the Colosseum in Rome. The area was first proposed as a national park during the 1970s, but the plan was put on hold due to political instability and more than a quarter of a century of war.
Much of the park’s wildlife has been lost, according to the WCS, but recent surveys show that it still contains the ibex (a species of wild goat) and the urial (a type of wild sheep), as well as wolves, foxes and birds, including the Afghan snowfinch, believed to be the country’s only endemic bird species.
‘We do expect more visitors now that the park has official status,’ said Peter Zahler, assistant director of the WCS’s Asia programme. ‘The location is not only very safe from a security standpoint, but also only a fairly short flight and drive from Kabul.’
September 2009
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