Biodiversity – GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF TAJIKISTAN

GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF TAJIKISTAN

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19

Sep

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Habitat Corridors for Snow Leopards

High above the tree line, where scree slopes fade into cloud and silence, the snow leopard still moves. In Tajikistan, these elusive cats—Panthera uncia—are more than a symbol of wilderness. They are indicators of landscape health, a measure of whether the mountains still connect. Yet even the most agile climber cannot leap across fragmentation. As
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17

Mar

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Shrinking Wetlands in Sughd

The wetlands of Sughd are easy to miss. Seen from the road between Zafarobod and Istaravshan, they look like shimmering patches of reeds and shallow water, a blur of green against the gray-brown loess plains. But beneath that surface lies one of the most fragile geographies in northern Tajikistan: a network of seasonal lakes, backwaters,
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14

Jul

Water & Rivers

GeoSociety

Riverine Fisheries: Decline and Adaptation

On the lower reaches of Tajikistan’s rivers, as spring runoff gives way to summer flows, fishermen gather at dawn along the banks with nets, handlines, and aging wooden boats. Their activity is both timeless and newly fragile. Riverine fisheries, which once was an abundant, integral part of local livelihoods and riparian ecosystems have been steadily
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22

Mar

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Tigrovaya Balka Reserve: Floodplain Ecology in Peril

Where the Vakhsh River meets the Amu Darya, a floodplain stretches into thickets, wetlands, and forests of willow and poplar. This is Tigrovaya Balka, Tajikistan’s oldest nature reserve and one of Central Asia’s most important floodplain ecosystems. To walk here is to enter a geography defined by water’s ebb and flow, by forests that rise
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8

Aug

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Zorkul Reserve: High-Altitude Borders & Biological Thresholds

Above 4,100 meters, the air thins. The sun feels distant. At the edge of change lies Zorkul, a glacial lake perched on the Tajik–Afghan border, held in place by steep ridges and ancient ice. The Zorkul Reserve stretches across this boundary, a place where rivers begin, skies widen, and life clings in delicate communities. To
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25

Jul

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Forests and Deforestation: The Vanishing Green

The forest in Tajikistan is never far, though its presence is often overlooked. Scattered across valleys, clinging to slopes, lining rivers with narrow bands of green, these woodlands are fragile fragments of what once covered more. In the Hissar range, walnut trees shade villages, their nuts gathered in baskets by children each autumn. In Sughd,
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5

May

Land & Ecosystems

GeoSociety

Biodiversity in Tajikistan: Flora

On the slopes above the Varzob Valley, the air smells of thyme and wet soil. Spring rains coax green shoots from the ground, and the hillsides shift from brown to vivid color almost overnight. Wild tulips flare red and gold; almond trees burst into blossom. Tajikistan’s flora is astonishing in its variety: more than 5,000
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