Biodiversity Profile of Afghanistan - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

alpine. vegetation. and. not. from. pre-adapted.
psammophytes,. as. is. common. elsewhere.. This.
suggests. that. Dasht-i-Nawar. has. experienced.
highly. effective. and. long-lasting. ecological.
isolation..Further.investigations.may.discover.other.
species.to.have.evolved.in situ.making.Dasht-i-
Nawar.a.potential.evolutionary.hotspot..
According.to.local.reports,.the.mountains.to.the.
west. of. Dasht-i-Nawar. area. still. support. a. small.
population. of. Himalayan. ibex. and. urial.. Locals.
indicated. that. ungulates. can. sometimes. be.
sighted.with.binoculars.in.the.nearby.mountains.
during.winter.months..Some.big.game.hunting.is.
undertaken.by.locals,.but.it.appears.to.be.minimal..
Locals.do.almost.no.waterfowl.hunting..They.are.
particularly.averse.to.hunting.flamingoes.because.
they.associate.the.pink.colour.of.the.plumage.with.
the.blood.of.the.martyred.Imam.Hussain.
In.the.1970s,.Shank.and.Rodenburg.(1977).roughly.
estimated. the. settled. Hazara. population. living.
around.the.dasht.to.be.about.1,200.–.1,500.people..
Currently,.there.are.about.3,500-households.and.
approximately.24,000.people.living.in.38.villages.
distributed. mostly. on. the. east. side. of. the. dasht.
(Petocz.2006a)..
In. the. 1970s,. Shank. and. Rodenburg. (1977).
estimated. that. about. 1,300. nomadic. people.
(kuchis).grazed.approximately.5,000-7,000.sheep.
and.goats.and.700.camels.on.the.dasht.during.
the.summer.months..The.kuchis.claimed.to.have.
farmans. (permits). endorsed. by. former. Afghan.
kings.giving.them.grazing.rights.in.Dasht-i-Nawar..
The.traditional.movement.patterns.of.the.nomadic.
people. were. disrupted. during. 25. years. of. war..
The.settled.Hazaras.initially.expelled.the.nomads,.
but. the. kuchis. returned. when. the. dominantly.
Pashtun. Taliban. took. power.. Reportedly,. 1,000.
kuchi. families. now. graze. as. many. as. 100,000.
head.of.livestock.in.the.area.during.the.summer.
months..Animosity.currently.runs.so.high.between.
the.residents.and.the.nomads.that.it.sometimes.
erupts.into.violence.(Petocz.2006a)..
Dasht-i-Nawar. was. declared. as. a. National.
Flamingo. and. Waterfowl. Sanctuary. by. the.
Directorate.of.Wildlife.and.National.Parks.in.1974.
(FAO. 1978).. . This. designation. was. approved. by.
the. Head. of. State. on. December. 20,. 1977. vide.
Order.No..707.on.the.basis.of.Petition.no..1765.
for Global Environment Management (NCSA) for Afghanistan
dated.June.6,.1977.(IUCN.1993)..Game.guards.
were.stationed.at.Dasht-i-Nawar.in1976,.but.their.
legal.authority.was.questionable....The.protection.
previously. afforded. Dasht-i-Nawar. is. no. longer.
in. effect.. . Dasht-i-Nawar. is. not. currently. on. the.
international. list. of. 1,198. recognized. Ramsar.
sites,. although. nomination. documents. were.
presented.to.the.Afghan.Parliament.for.approval.
of.accession..
15.5 Hamun-i-Puzak
Hamun-i-Puzak.was.proposed.as.a.national.park.
by.Sayer.and.van.der.Zon.(1981)..It.is.a.large,.
shallow,. permanent. lake. located. in. the. Seistan.
Basin. along. the. border. with. Iran.. It. is. part. of. a.
larger. complex. of. shallow,. intermittent. lakes.
that. includes. Baringak,. Chonge. Sorkh,. Hamuni-Hirmand,.Hamun-i-Saberi,.and.Hamun-i-Puzak..
Although.the.lake.complex.is.fed.almost.entirely.
from. snow. melt. originating. in. Afghanistan,. only.
Hamun-i-Puzak.is.largely.Afghan;.approximately.
1,453.km².lies.in.Afghanistan.and.61.km².in.Iran.
(UNEP. 2006).. At. high. water,. the. Hamun-i-Puzak.
is.characterized.by.huge.expanses.of.tall.reeds.
(Phragmites australis).. At. one. time,. it. was. a.
significant. wetland. for. waterfowl. with. 357,000.
counted.in.January,.1976.(Petocz.et.al..1976)..
UNEP.(2003a).provides.a.series.of.satellite.image.
analyses. showing. how. the. Siestan. Basin. dried.
up.between.1976.and.2001..However,.periodic.
desiccation.is.natural.phenomenon.and.recovery.
of.the.ecosystem.may.be.possible.if.water.flows.are.
restored..A.recent.analysis.(UNEP.2006).indicates.
that.that.there.have.been.four.recent.phases.in.
the.hydrology.of.the.hamun.system:
1.. A.low-water.period.in.1985-1988.
2.. A.high-water.period.in.1989-1993.
3.. A.medium-water.period.in.1994-1999.
4.. A.dry.period.in.2000-2004.
At. least. 40%. of. Hamun-i-Puzak. was. inundated.
from.1985.–.2000.at.which.time.the.lake.went.dry.
until.the.2005..Vegetative.biomass.remained.fairly.
constant.until.1999.when.it.collapsed.sharply..There.
have. been. no. recent. assessments. of. waterfowl.
populations.or.of.other.aspects.of.biodiversity..
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