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Countries
| Area size | Status | Region | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkmenistan | 0 ha | Nature Reserve | Badhys |
| Turkmenistan | 0 ha | Nature Reserve | Kopetdag |
| Turkmenistan | 0 ha | Nature Reserve | Sunt-Khasardag |
| Total area size | 0 ha |
Habitat description
Kopetdag-Badhys consists of two neighbouring nature reserves located in Turkmenistan, southeast of the Caspian Sea. The habitat consists of mountanous steppes, rocks and mountainous forests. Landscape is characterized by a semi-desert mountain range (Kopetdag) with northern slopes and the plateau Badhys-Karabil in the southeast, which is a hilly desert.
Background information
The total area size if 10-12 million ha.
The area includes three nature reserves, zapovedniks:
- Badhys (created in 1941),
- Kopetdag (1976) and
- Sunt-Khasardag (1979).
These areas are considered to be protected completely but a lot of poaching is going on. Besides the zapovedniks there are nature sanctuaries (zakasniks) with a lower status of protection. The rest of the area is not protected at all. The protected areas do not include all the necessary habitat for all large herbivores species. 
Kopetdag forest In Kopetdag-Badhys: forests with walnut cover the valley, juniper the upper slopes.
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Presence of species in landscape
Large herbivores
Large carnivores
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Maps
Interactive map
Hotspot Kopetdag-Badhys to enlarge in Google maps
Further map information
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Opportunities
- For wildlife conservation some zapovedniks (strictly protected areas) and a system of forestry have been established but the protected areas decreased within the last years. Some basic legislation for wildlife conservation exists but it does not always work. A complex program on the development of protected areas needs to be worked out to provide special protection, maintenance and management of rare species. The protected areas have to be enlarged to provide a complete habitat (e.g. watering places for kulans).
- As the area is very promising for ecotourism, programs have to be developed. At the same time a system of ecologically amicable ways of economical development is worked out. IUCN and the World Bank have started conservation programs, but mainly ecotourism programs in coastal areas.
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Threats
- After the break of the USSR some protected areas were brought back into the system of pastures because the food conditions for livestock were much better. The result is that protected areas now are not big enough to store water. The effect is a degradation of vegetation in the surroundings, waterfloods and lack of pastures
- Although human population density is rather low with less than 1 to about 10 people per km2 many human-wildlife conflicts occur mainly because of the very low standard of life in the region
- wildlife competition with sheep-breeding and agriculture (competition for food and damage to grain fields) in the valleys are the reason for a lot of poaching
- another problem is a non-regulated growth of the Kulan population. They have their summer watering places outside the protected areas and therefore cause conflicts with agriculture and compete with livestock for water. Non-regulated wood-cutting for individual purposes destroys habitat
- All large herbivores populations have declined dramatically during the last decades because of heavy poaching. The Kulan, for example, has been reduced by military forces who were allowed to use the meat as a food source
- As the protected area is now too small for the whole population of kulans, animals have been captured and reintroduced to other areas. The budget for actions like this has been cut dramatically in the meantime
- Poaching, competition for food with domestic livestock, disturbance and habitat loss from logging and land clearing, are major threats to the Turkmen Wild goat. Numbers have recently declined as much as 50% in some areas of Kopetdag
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Experts and Scientific Referees
Pereladova, Olga
WWF Central Asia Regional programme. Scientific research on acoustic communication, behaviour, ecology, conservation and restoration.
WWF Russia
www.wwf.ru/eng
WWF Russia
www.wwf.ru/eng
Contact
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Library
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Sources
PERELADOVA O., V. KREVER, M. WILLIAMS
1997, Biodiversity Conservation in Central Asia: analysis of modern situation and project portfolio, , Almata, Ashgabad, Bishkek, Dushanbe, Tashkent, Moscow.
SOKOLOV V. E. (Ed.), E. E. SYROECHKOVSKII
1985-1990, Zapovedniks of the Soviet Union, 8 diff. Vol. (1970-01-01)
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All comments on Kopetdag-Badhys
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