DUSHANBE, September 22, 2010, Asia-Plus — The National Park of Tajikistan will be put on the UNESCO World Heritage List in the Natural category, Karomatullo Olimov, the chairman of Tajikistan’s National Commission for UNESCO told reporters in Dushanbe yesterday.
He noted that Tajikistan put forward the Tajik National Park in the Natural category along with the archeological site Sarazm that was put forward as a cultural site.
“The World Heritage Committee that met in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia from July 25 to August 3 considered the proposed sites and recommended to conduct wider study of the National Park,” said Olimov, “All these works are expected to be finished in February 2011 and Tajikistan will submit all documents on the National Park to the next session of the World Heritage Committee that will take place in Bahrain I June 2011, and the Tajik National Park is expected to be put on the UNSECO World Heritage List in 2012.”
At more than 12,000 square kilometers in size, the Tajik National Park takes up almost a tenth of the area of Tajikistan. According to the Natural Heritage Protection Fund, it is the largest protected area in Central Asia. It includes Somoni Peak, which at 7,495 meters is the highest mountain in the post-Soviet area. Other unique features include Fedchenko Glacier, one of the largest mountain valley glaciers on earth; Sarez Lake, one of the world’s highest lakes; and more than 100 endemic and endangered plants and animals, including the snow leopard.
We will recall that the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed the archeological site Sarazm in northern Tajikistan as a cultural site on the UNESCO World Heritage List at its meeting in Brasilia on August 1 this year.
