Zorkul Nature Reserve
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Zorkul Nature Reserve is a 1,610 km2 (620 sq mi) nature reserve in the south-eastern section of the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region of Tajikistan, adjoining the border with the Wakhan National Park of Afghanistan in the Wakhan District of Badakhshan Province. The area was made a zakaznik in 1972 for the conservation of bar-headed geese and upgraded to a full nature reserve in 2000. It has also been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA).[1]
The reserve occupies a wide valley 320 km (200 mi) east of the provincial capital of Khorugh, lying between the southern Alichur and Vahan ridges of the eastern Pamir Mountainss at 4,000–5,460 m (13,120–17,910 ft) above sea level. The landscape consists mainly of gentle slopes of sparsely vegetated alpine steppe. The core of the reserve is the 3,900 ha (9,600 acres) of Zorkul lake at an altitude of 4,125 m (13,533 ft). The maximum depth of the lake is 6 m (20 ft). Its surface is covered by vegetation. Bar-headed geese and other waterfowl breed on islands in the lake. Although land use in the reserve is prohibited, its surrounds are used as pasture.[1]