Biodiversity Profile of Afghanistan - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP
Biodiversity Profile of Afghanistan - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP
Biodiversity Profile of Afghanistan - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP
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Author’s Note<br />
This.report.is.an.attempt.to.provide.a.comprehensive.<br />
summary.<strong>of</strong>.the.status.<strong>of</strong>.<strong>Afghanistan</strong>’s.biodiversity.in.<br />
2008...The.hope.is.that.it.will.serve.as.a.h<strong>and</strong>y.<strong>and</strong>.<br />
scientifically.credible.reference.for.anybody.seeking.<br />
reliable.information.on.Afghan.biodiversity....<br />
For. many. reasons,. comprehensively. describing.<br />
<strong>Afghanistan</strong>’s. biodiversity. is. a. challenging. task..<br />
First,.little.research.has.been.undertaken.on.Afghan.<br />
biodiversity...There.are.many.thous<strong>and</strong>s.<strong>of</strong>.species.<br />
that.have.not.been.recognized.by.scientists.<strong>and</strong>.<br />
there.is.little.information.on.the.status.or.distribution.<strong>of</strong>.<br />
most.<strong>of</strong>.those.that.have.been.catalogued....Second,.<br />
most.<strong>of</strong>.biodiversity.research.was.undertaken.prior.<br />
to.the.outbreak.<strong>of</strong>.war.in.1979.<strong>and</strong>.is.therefore.out.<br />
<strong>of</strong>.date....Unfortunately,.the.current.security.situation.<br />
makes.it.difficult.to.reassess,.validate.<strong>and</strong>.update.<br />
this.older.information...Third,.much.<strong>of</strong>.the.biodiversity.<br />
research.has.been.published.in.obscure.journals.<br />
<strong>and</strong>.a.wide.variety.<strong>of</strong>.languages.thereby.making.<br />
in.inaccessible....Fourth,.much.<strong>of</strong>.the.more.recent.<br />
information.on.Afghan.biodiversity.has.uncritically.<br />
recycled.old.material.without.citing.original.sources.<br />
making. it. very. difficult. to. assess. the. validity. <strong>of</strong>.<br />
the.data...And.last,.because.Afghan.species.are.<br />
relatively. poorly. known,. considerable. taxonomic.<br />
uncertainty.remains.leading.to.constantly.changing.<br />
classification.<strong>and</strong>.scientific.names...<br />
The. first. part. <strong>of</strong>. the. report. is. a. short,. narrative.<br />
interpretation. <strong>of</strong>. <strong>Afghanistan</strong>’s. biodiversity.<br />
emphasizing.various.approaches.to.eco-regional.<br />
classification,.summaries.<strong>of</strong>.species.<strong>and</strong>.speciesat-risk,.identification.<strong>of</strong>.known.biodiversity.hotspots,.<br />
<strong>and</strong>.a.short.summary.<strong>of</strong>.the.country’s.agricultural.<br />
biodiversity...<br />
Lists.<strong>of</strong>.species.known.to.occur.in.<strong>Afghanistan</strong>.are.<br />
included.as.Appendices.1.–.8...In.reviewing.these.<br />
data,.it.became.clear.how.much.basic.fieldwork.<br />
remains.to.be.done.to.produce.reliable.species.<br />
lists,.even.for.well-known.groups.such.as.birds.<strong>and</strong>.<br />
mammals...Considerable.botanical.research.has.<br />
been.undertaken.in.<strong>Afghanistan</strong>,.but.it.has.not.yet.<br />
been.synthesized...Consequently,.no.checklists.for.<br />
vascular.plants.are.included...<br />
Appendices.10.<strong>and</strong>.11.list.those.Afghan.species.that.<br />
are.at.risk.<strong>of</strong>.extinction.at.the.global.scale...However,.<br />
almost. no. information. is. available. on. the. current.<br />
status.<strong>of</strong>.species.within.the.borders.<strong>of</strong>.<strong>Afghanistan</strong>,.<br />
although.it.is.readily.obvious.that.many.species.have.<br />
declined.dramatically.over.the.past.three.decades..<br />
An.urgent.need.is.to.initiate.the.process.<strong>of</strong>.formally.<br />
assessing.the.distribution.<strong>and</strong>.population.trends.<strong>of</strong>.<br />
<strong>Afghanistan</strong>’s.biodiversity,.starting.with.mammals...<br />
A.bibliography.<strong>of</strong>.over.500.publications.on.Afghan.<br />
biodiversity,. sorted. by. subject,. is. included. as.<br />
Appendix.12...This.list.is.by.no.means.complete.<strong>and</strong>.<br />
I.was.unable.to.locate.<strong>and</strong>.translate.most.<strong>of</strong>.the.<br />
references....Ideally,.some.organization.would.assume.<br />
responsibility.for.completing.the.bibliography.<strong>and</strong>.<br />
keeping.it.up-to-date....Acquiring.the.publications.<br />
<strong>and</strong>.scanning.them.into.an.accessible.digital.library.<br />
would.be.a.great.service..<br />
I.hope.that.this.pr<strong>of</strong>ile.<strong>of</strong>.<strong>Afghanistan</strong>’s.biodiversity.<br />
proves.to.be.useful..<br />
Christopher.C..Shank<br />
An Output <strong>of</strong> the National Capacity Needs Self-Assessment
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