Protected areas of Afghanistan

In Afghanistan there are 12 protected areas. Of these, 2 are national parks, 2 are wildlife reserves, 3 are national parks with use of natural resources, 2 are flamingo and waterfowl sanctuaries, 2 are waterfowl sanctuaries, and 1 is not categorized.

National parks and other reserves
Ajar Valley National Park, 400 km 2, 200 km northwest of Kabul, starting at 2,400 m altitude and up to 4,000 m, population of ibex and Bactrian deer, with some yaks.

Band-e Amir National Park, 613 km 2, a series of six lakes separated by natural travertine dams, at 3,000 m altitude in the Hindu Kush.

Ab-i Estada Flamingo and Waterfowl Sanctuary, salty endorheic lake 2,000 m high and 250 km southwest of Kabul, in a wide depression created by the Chaman fault, which is part of a system separating the Eurasian plate of the Indo-Australian plate in the Hindu Kush. Wetlands cover about 27,000 ha, between water surface and swamps, and are home to some 120 species of birds among which the pink flamingos.

Dasht-e Nawar Flamingo and Waterfowl Sanctuary. Brackish lake and archaeological site 60 km west of Ghazni. The lake measures 60 by 15 km. On the beaches there are several paleolithic sites. It is also the highest flamingo nesting area in the world, at 3,000 m. Among the mammals, the Afghan pike, the red fox and the manul.

Areas of importance to birds
BirdLife International recognizes the existence of 15 IBA sites, areas of international importance for birds in Afghanistan. In total they occupy 39,181 km 2, with a total of 391 recognized and 17 threatened species.

Ab-i Estada, sanctuary of Flamingos and Waterfowl (see above).
Band-e Amir, national park (see above).
Great Pamir, 67,938 ha, extreme northeast of Afghanistan, north of the Wakhan Corridor, south of Lake Zorkul, from 3,250 to 6,103 m, between glaciers and glacial lakes, Sargaz, Tulibai, Manjulak and Abakhan valleys, tributaries of the Pamir River in the Tajikistan border. Alluvial deposits with willow patches, glacial plains up to 5,000 m, wetlands dominated by Carex and Kobresia, steppes at 4300-4500 m, with sheep, goats and yaks. 117 species of birds, including buzzard, golden eagle, Himalayan vulture, Himalayan pellet, eagle owl, horned lark, sallow sandpiper, etc. Among the mammals, lynx, bear, wolf, mountain goat.
Darqad, Tahār province district, 20,000 ha, floodplain lowlands of the river (Panj river), tributary of the Amu Daria, and islands, 80 km north of Taloqan, border of Tajikistan, at 400-500 m altitude. Wooded wetlands of Phragmites reedbeds with tamarisk and willow patches, plus Elaeagnus groves. Recently cleared for crops, especially on the Tajikistan side. Fauna little it studied since the 1970s
Dasht-e Nawar, Flamingo and Waterfowl Sanctuary (see above).
Lake Hamun (Hamun-i Puzak), 35,000 ha, brackish lake in the Sistan desert, southwest of Afghanistan, shared with Iran, 500 m high, surrounded by vast swaths of Phragmites reeds. Water from the Khashrud River, dry in summer, with water in spring, from the thaw and very irregular. There is some tamarisk in the wetland and the steppe is sagebrush. In 1976, 357,000 birds lived here, including the white jar, the western marsh harrier and the common gallinule.
Hari Rud River Valley, 35,000 ha in northwest Afghanistan, comprises 112 km of valley from Obe (Awbeh), 1,830 m, to the west of Herat city, 1,050 m. It includes wastelands, desert hills and plains with scattered vegetation and crops. The valley is 15 km wide in Obe and widens to the west, before Herat. There are tamarisks and poplar and apricot cultivars by the river. Among the birds, the chikra sparrowhawk, the scaly woodpecker, the eastern calandria, the sallow sandpiper and the white- tailed tarabilla.
Imam Sahib, 20,000 ha, where the Panj river and Vajsh river meet to form the Amu Daria, south of the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve, Tajikistan and east of the Darqad protected area, on the Panj river, 60 km north of Kunduz, at an altitude of 500 m. Same characteristics as Darqad (see above).
Kole Hashmat Khan, 250 ha, the only surviving wetland from Kabul's once-extensive wetlands. To the southwest of the city, on the Kabul-Gardez highway, at an altitude of 1,800 m. It is a small lake 2.5 km long and 300-1,000 m wide. Grazing and nearby crops. Very deteriorated area of bird migration between Pakistan / India and Central Asia / Siberia, rich in the years 1960-1970.
Northeast steppe, 800 km 2, wastelands, desert steppe and plains west of Qala-i-Nau, in northwestern Afghanistan, bordering Turkmenistan to the north and Iran to the west, south of Badkyz State Nature Reserve, in Turkmenistan. Between 500 and 1,000 m of altitude, artemisia in the steppe plains and Pistacia forests in the hills that produce pistachios for neighboring populations. Among the birds, chikra sparrowhawk, Malagasy bee-eater, bimaculate calender, Hume's terrera,tarabilla pía and desert prinia. Mammals include the Asiatic wild ass, from the northern reserves.
Valleys of the Pej River and its tributary, the Waygal, 1,200 km 2, tributaries of the Kunar River, to the east of Afghanistan, north of Jalalabad, in Nuristan province, between 1,100 and 3,000 m. Surrounded by granite peaks of up to 6,300 m. Up to 2,200 m Quercus forests (oaks), and conifers up to 3,000 m, with a narrow area of junipers. They nest more than 50 species of birds, among them, the red-tailed monal, the koklas pheasant, the Brooks mosquito net, the white-throated myth, and the Kashmiri climber. Among the mammals, the brown bear, the Tibetan bear, the snow leopard, the lynx, the wolf, the mountain goat and rarely, the leopard and the lynx.
Registan Desert, 30,000 km 2. South Afghanistan, border with Pakistan (Baluchistan). Very warm steppe landscape in summer between 800 and 1,200 m.
Safēd Kōh, 2000 km 2. Mountainous area southeast of Kabul, between 2,000 and 3,000 m. Himalayan cedar, Pinus gerardiana and Himalayan blue pine forests devastated by the civil war. It is the western boundary of the Himalayas for birds.
Salang Pass, 2,000 ha, It occupies 10 km of valley north of Kabul, between the Salang Kotal pass, 3,658 m, and the town of Khinjan, 1,500 m. Currently, the pass is crossed by a tunnel at 3,200 m, surrounded by alpine slopes, with juniper and willow. The waters pour into the Amu Daria basin. Among the birds, the white-billed beak, the simple mosquito net, etc.
Little Pamir, 2,000 km 2, east of the Wakhan corridor, at the crossroads with China, Pakistan and Tajikistan. Aksu and Waghir valleys, between 4,000 and 6,000 m. Lakes of Zor Kol and Chaqmatin.