Forests

Forests in Tajikistan are State property referred to as “first group forests”, which means that all forestry activities are aimed at expansion and improvement.

Forests in Tajikistan occupy an area of 410 thousand hectares. Juniper forests occupy an essential part of national forests, which are located at different altitudes between 1,500 and 3,200 masl on the slopes of Gissar, Zeravshan and Turkestan ranges. Juniper forests are good regulators of surface runoff preventing soils from erosion in mountains and valleys, as well as CO2 sinks. Junipers can be as old as five centuries. Pistachio forests are well adapted to the arid hot climate and occupy 78 thousand hectares. Pistachios dominate the landscape in the south of Tajikistan at altitudes from 600 to 1,400 masl.

Walnut forests occupy a territory of 8 thousand hectares and differ by very demand in terms of soil and climatic conditions. Walnut forests grow in Central Tajikistan at an altitude from 1,000 to 2,000 masl. Maple forests occupy a significant part of national forests - 44 thousand hectares. Poplars, willows, birches, sea-buckthorns and other types of groves are spread fragmentarily.

Flora and fauna

Flora of Tajikistan is rich and diverse and includes more than 5,000 species of higher plants, over 3,000 species of lower plants, including endemic, rare and endangered species.

Tajikistan as a typical mountain country is unique with its high-altitude flora distribution and its geographic isolation. Plant communities typical for Tajikistan are: broad-leaf forests, tugai flood plain forests, small-leaf forests, juniper forests, light forests, saxaul deserts, shrub deserts, steppes, meadows, pulvinates and thorn dwarf shrubs.

The fauna of Tajikistan is very diverse. There are 84 species and subspecies of mammal, 385 species of bird, 46 species of reptile, 52 species of fish, 2 species of amphibian, more than 10,000 species of invertebrate. Such diversity takes place due to the specific geographical location of Tajikistan inside the Eurasian continent with its diverse habitats, ranging from the hot lowland deserts of Southern Tajikistan to the high mountains of Western and Eastern Pamir.