Cold winter deserts of Turan nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status

In late January 2022, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan submitted a World Heritage nomination dossier for the “Cold winter deserts of Turan” to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in Paris. The region comprises seven protected areas in the three countries. 

The cold winter deserts in the temperate zone are characterised by their extreme climatic conditions and unique species diversity. The flora and fauna in these deserts have adapted to extreme drought and heat in summer as well as extremes of cold in winter. 

The cold winter deserts of Turan play a key role for climate change mitigation and species diversity in the region. The World Heritage Site nomination is therefore being supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The IKI’s Central Asian Desert Initiative (CADI) project is providing the process with scientific and organisational support. 

Valuable ecosystems: carbon sinks, endangered species habitats and the world’s newest desert

Kazakhstan has nominated the Barsakelmes State Nature Reserve in the Aral region and the Altyn-Emel National Park in the Almaty region. Uzbekistan’s nominations include the South Ust-Yurt National Park, while Turkmenistan has nominated the Repetek and Gaplangyr nature reserves. 

The world-famous saxaul forests here are also carbon sinks that make a key contribution to climate change mitigation. 

Another unique development can also be currently observed in the Barsakelmes Nature Reserve: the re-colonisation of the dried-out seabed of the Aral Sea by plants and animals is now creating the world’s youngest desert environment: the Aralkum Desert.

The cold winter deserts also provide a one-of-a-kind habitat for endangered animal species. These deserts are one of the few places left in the world that provide space for the annual migrations of large ungulates like the kulan, goitered gazelle, saiga antelope and urial.

Next steps: decision from World Heritage Committee in 2023

Some time will now pass between the submitted nomination and a possible inclusion of the “Cold winter deserts of Turan” in the list of World Heritage Sites. The next steps in the process will see the nomination being evaluated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), whose experts will visit the nominated regions in person. 

The decision will be published at the 46th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in 2023.