Sünt-Hasardag Nature Reserve () is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

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zapovednik A zapovednik is an established term on the Post-Soviet states, territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area which is kept "forever wild". It is the highest degree of environmental protection for the assigned areas, which are strictly ...

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Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

. Established in 1977 for the protection of indigenous flora and fauna, it is located in south-western part of the Kopetdag Range in

Balkan Province Balkan Region () is the westernmost of the five regions of Turkmenistan. Clockwise from north it borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (north); two provinces of Turkmenistan (east), Iran (south), and the Caspian Sea (west). The capital city is Balkana ...

, covering an area of 303 km². It also incorporates one sanctuary: * Sünt-Hasardag Sanctuary - established in 1990. The reserve is dominated by a dry subtropical climate, with long dry summers. The temperature in summer ranges from 35 to 45 degrees Celsius. The rainy season starts in November and lasts until April.The reserve is known as one of the centers in the world where wild relatives of cultivated crops thrive; wild relatives of figs, wild apples, walnuts, pistachios, almonds and cherries grow here. All of them represent a significant historical gene pool for crops.

References

*''National Program for the Protection of the Environment'', Ashgabat, 2002, pp. 149–151

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20090609072344/http://natureprotection.gov.tm/reserve_tm.html Nature reserves in Turkmenistan Protected areas established in 1977 World Heritage Tentative List {{Asia-protected-area-stub