__NOTOC__ Band-e Amir National Park ( fa, بند امیر) Afghanistan established its first national park on April 22, 2009, to promote and protect the natural beauty of a series of intensely blue lakes created by natural dams high in the Hindu Kush. Band-e-Amir is a chain of six lakes in the mountainous desert of central Afghanistan. The lakes formed from mineral-rich water that seeped out of faults and cracks in the rocky landscape. Over time, the water deposited layers of hardened mineral (travertine) that built up into walls that now contain the water. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, who helped the Afghan government set up the park, Band-e-Amir is one of the few travertine systems in the world. They were created by the carbon dioxide rich water oozing out of the faults and fractures to deposit calcium carbonate precipitate in the form of travertine walls that today store the water of these lakes. Band-e Amir is one of the few rare natural lakes in the world which are created by travertine systems. The site of Band-e Amir has been described as Afghanistan's

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

, and draws thousands of tourists a year. The river is part of the system of the Balkh River.

History

The name Band-e Amir literally means ''" the Ruler's Dam"'' which is believed by some to be a reference to Ali, the fourth Caliph of the Muslims. The area is dominated by ethnic Hazaras, who are estimated to make up about 40 percent of Afghanistan's population. In her 1970 guide to Afghanistan,

Nancy Dupree Nancy Hatch Dupree ( ps, نانسي دوپري, translit=Nansi dupri; October 3, 1927 – September 10, 2017) was an American-Afghan historian whose work primarily focused on the history of modern Afghanistan. She was the director of the Afghanis ...

wrote that a full description about Band-e Amir would "rob the uninitiated of the wonder and amazement it produces on all who gaze upon it". Parts of the 1975 Bollywood film Dharmatma, with

Feroz Khan Feroz Khan or Feroze Khan may refer to: * Feroz Khan (actor) (1939–2009), Indian actor and film director * Feroz Khan Noon (1893–1970), Pakistani politician and 8th Prime Minister of Pakistan * Feroze Khan (born 1990), Pakistani VJ, television ...

and Hema Malini, were filmed at the Band-e Amir National Park. In 2004, Band-e Amir was submitted for recognition as a World Heritage site. Efforts to make Band-e Amir a national park started in the 1970s, but were then put on hold due to the wars. In April 2009, Band-e Amir was finally declared Afghanistan's first national park.Leithead, Alastair (2008-07-15). Getting tourists to Afghanistan's 'Grand Canyon'. BBC News. Retrieved on 2008-07-15 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7506146.stm. As of 2013, about 6,000 local tourists visit the Band-e Amir National Park every year. The area is protected by a small number of

park ranger A ranger, park ranger, park warden, or forest ranger is a law enforcement person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands – national, state, provincial, or local parks. Description "Parks" may be broadly defined by some systems in thi ...

Geography

Band-e Amir is situated at approximately 75 km to the north-west of the ancient city of Bamyan, close to the town of

Yakawlang Yakawlang (also romanized as Yakaolang) ( fa, یکاولنگ) was a city of 65,000 people (est. 2000) in Yakawlang District, Bamyan Province, Afghanistan. It is the capital of Yakawlang District with an altitude of . It was significantly destr ...

. Together with

Bamyan Valley Bamyan or Bamyan Valley (); ( prs, بامیان) also spelled Bamiyan or Bamian is the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. Its population of approximately 70,000 people makes it the largest city in Hazarajat. Bamyan is at an alti ...

, they are the heart of Afghanistan's tourism, attracting thousands of tourists every year and from every corner of the world. The Band-e Amir lakes are primarily a late spring and summertime tourism destination, as the high elevation central Hazarajat region of Afghanistan is extremely cold in winter, with temperatures reaching as low as . The six constituent lakes of Band-e Amir are: * Band-e Gholaman (Lake of the slaves) * Band-e Qambar (Lake of Caliph Ali's slave) * Band-e Haibat (Lake of grandiose) * Band-e Panir (Lake of cheese) * Band-e Pudina (Lake of wild mint) * Band-e Zulfiqar (Lake of the sword of Ali) The white travertine dams created by fault lines, which are prevalent in the Band-e Amir Valley, form the barriers between the lakes. Band-e Haibat is the biggest and the deepest of the six, with an average depth of approximately 150 metres, as estimated by the Provincial Reconstruction Team diving team from New Zealand. Another comparable lake is Band-e Azhdahar (The Dragon), located a few kilometres southeast of the town of Bamyan, which has also been created as a result of carbon dioxide rich water oozing out of the faults underground and depositing calcium carbonate precipitate to form the travertine walls of Band-e Amir. File:Band-e-Amir National Park-2.jpg, File:Band-e-Amir National Park-3.jpg, File:Band-e-Amir National Park-4.jpg, File:Band-e-Amir National Park-5.jpg, File:Band-e-Amir National Park-6.jpg, File:Band-e-Amir National Park-7.jpg, File:Band-e-Amir National Park-8.jpg, File:Band-e-Amir National Park-10.jpg, File:Band-e-Amir National Park-11.jpg, File:Band-e-Amir National Park-12.jpg, File:Band-e-Amir National Park-9.jpg, The Band-e Amir Lake File:BandeAmir1.jpg, One of the Lakes at Band-e Amir Area File:BandeAmir2.jpg, Another Lake at Band-e Amir Area File:Band e Paneer.jpg, Band-e Panir

Current status

After the formal establishment of the park in 2009, a park office with a park warden and a group of rangers was installed to manage the conservation and protection of park natural resources. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is the only non-government organization with an office in the park. WCS supports park staff and works with the local community to promote conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Ecotourism is expected to decrease local economic dependency on the park's natural resources. Tourists visit Band-e-Amir primarily in the summer months when the weather is warm. A poor local economy and limited outside investment have hampered efforts to attract winter tourism. The local people in Band-e-Amir National Park rely heavily on the park's natural resources for their livelihood. Grazing of livestock, collection of shrubs for fuel and winter fodder and rain-fed farming is still widely practiced within the park boundary. Although the illegal hunting of birds and a few mammals living in the park is formally prohibited by the park office, there is no current data to evaluate the status of wildlife and biodiversity.

Important Bird Area

A 41,000 ha tract overlapping the national park has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because it supports populations of

Himalayan snowcock The Himalayan snowcock (''Tetraogallus himalayensis'') is a snowcock in the pheasant family Phasianidae found across the Himalayan ranges and parts of the adjoining Pamir range of Asia. It is found on alpine pastures and on steep rocky cliffs wh ...

Hume's lark Hume's short-toed lark (''Calandrella acutirostris'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in south-central Asia from Iran and Kazakhstan to China. Taxonomy and systematics The name commemorates the British naturalist Allan ...

s, white-winged snowfinches, Afghan snowfinches and

Eurasian crimson-winged finch The Asian crimson-winged finch (''Rhodopechys sanguineus'') is a pale-colored thickset finch with a heavy, dull yellowish bill. It is found from Turkey to NE Pakistan. The African crimson-winged finch was formerly considered conspecific and to ...

es.

References

Bibliography

* Dupree, Nancy Hatch (1977): ''An Historical Guide to Afghanistan''. 1st Edition: 1970. 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan Tourist Organization.

External links

{{authority control National parks of Afghanistan Geography of Bamyan Province Hazarajat Lake groups of Afghanistan Landforms of Bamyan Province Reservoirs in Afghanistan Protected areas established in 2009 2009 establishments in Afghanistan Important Bird Areas of Afghanistan