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Karst, Canyons, and Caves of Kugitang
Turkmenistan
Date of Submission: 28/08/2025
Criteria: (vii)(viii)(x)
Category: Natural
Submitted by:
Permanent Delegation of Turkmenistan to UNESCO
State, Province or Region:
Lebap Velayat (Region), Koytendag Etrap (District)
Coordinates: N37 44 33.5294 E66 30 54.0669
Ref.: 6887
Transnational
Other States Parties participating
Uzbekistan
Description
The proposed transboundary World Heritage Site “Karst, Canyons, and Caves of Kugitang” encompasses the most southwestern mountain range of the Western Pamir-Alay Mountain system, shared between southeastern Turkmenistan and southern Uzbekistan. The range rises as striking mountain ridges above the surrounding semi-desert. As part of the Badkhyz and Karabil semi-desert Ecoregion (Olson et al. 2001) it belongs to the Pamir-Tian Shan Highlands Province (Udvardy 1975), a transition area between mixed mountains and highland systems with complex zonation and cold winter deserts and semi-deserts.
Although the mountain range is bisected by an international border along the mountain ridge/cliff and watershed, the landscape is geographically and ecologically contiguous and represents diverse karst phenomena including labyrinths of caves and countless canyons of exceptional geological, geomorphological, aesthetical, and ecological value.
Extending from the hot, dry semi-desert plains of the Amudarya River valley to the snow-capped peaks of Airybaba, rising to 3,137 meters above sea level as the highest mountain in Turkmenistan and in the entire Ecoregion, the proposed site is characterized by high mountain ridges dissected by deep canyons, many over 100 m deep, and a complex karst morphology with more than 300 caves, shafts and sinkholes of different sizes as a result of erosion of the Jurassic limestone. The cave system contains an extremely diverse array of geological formation of breathtaking beauty, considered to be among the most important in Eurasia (Welch & Stoev 2019). Furthermore, the Kugitang range represents the main periods of Earth history – from the Precambrian through the Cainozoic eras –, featuring fossil-bearing formations including globally important dinosaur footprints.
The exceptional orography of the north-south trending mountain range features sloping limestone plateaus, cut by dense nets of deep canyons, steep cliffs, and extensive weathered debris deposits through different climatic zones. This results in a mosaic of different ecosystems of semi-deserts, mountain steppes, woodlands, and thorny vegetation at climatically determined altitudinal belts that support unique and diverse assemblages of flora and fauna with a high degree of endemism and relict species.
The site’s extensive labyrinth of karst caves and its phreatic aquifers creates a mosaic of diverse subterranean habitats and microhabitats for a very narrow specialized subterranean fauna adapted to the extreme life conditions in the underground. This fauna, representing in most cases climatic relict species, can be dated back – in case of stygobiotic fauna – to the ancient Paratethys Lake that spread over the territory 10-20 million years ago. This isolation and endemism of the fauna should be a subject of future studies.
The proposed site unites two key protected areas on both sides of the border: Koytendag State Nature Reserve in Turkmenistan and Surkhan State Nature Reserve in Uzbekistan. Both sites have national entries on the current Tentative Lists of Turkmenistan (Dinosaurs and Caves of Koytendag) and Uzbekistan (Kuhitang Mountains). With the transboundary approach, the diversity of the most pristine caves, canyons, and mountain ecosystems of the region will be represented by the best examples in both countries.
Name(s) of the component part(s)
Koytendag State Nature Reserve
Lebap Velayat (Region), Koytendag Etrap (District)
37° 44′ 33.5294″ N 66° 30′ 54.0669″ E
Description of the component part(s)
The Turkmen western part of the transboundary site is located in the south-western slopes of the Kugitang mountains, at the south-western extreme of the Gissar Range of the Pamir-Alay Mountain system. Generally, it lies in the middle and upper mountainous belts at elevations of 400-3,137 m above sea level, which it reaches at Airybaba – the highest peak of Turkmenistan. There are a substantial number of waterbodies: karst lakes and caves (Kattakel, Khurdzhumkel, Garlyk, and others), freshwater springs (e.g., Bulakly, Koyten, Aksun, Bashbulak, Aksay) and hydrogen sulphate wells (Khodzhakainar, Khodzhapil, and Bazardepe). Some watercourses originate in snowfields, located at altitudes of about 3,000 m. The rainwater from the mountains supplying a large karstic aquifer based in gypsum evaporites at the western foots of the ridge, which is one of the main resources of the Kharabulakh-Garlyk-Gaynar Baba spring complex exploited for the irrigation of local agriculture. The main water source is the Koytenderya river. The climate depends on altitude, changing from arid and hot to temperate and cold with annual precipitation of up to 350 mm. The soils are serozyems (grey earth). Juniper forests are widespread in association with thorny cushion shrubs (Astragalus, Acantholimon, Kuhitangia, Acanthophyllum) (1,700-2,800 m), alternating with low-grass and tall-grass semi-savannas.
The proposed component part includes the following protected areas:
- Koytendag State Nature Reserve (IUCN Category I a, 27,139 ha)
- Garlyk Wildlife Sanctuary (IUCN Category IV, 40,000 ha)
- Khojapil Wildlife Sanctuary (IUCN Category IV, 31,635 ha)
- Khojagaraul Wildlife Sanctuary (IUCN Category IV, 16,011 ha)
The three Wildlife Sanctuaries are under the administration of Koytendag State Nature Reserve managed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan.
The total area of the proposed component part is 114,785 ha.
Justification of Outstanding Universal Value
Like under a magnifying glass amidst the vast Eurasian cold winter drylands region, the compact, clearly natural defined area of the Kugitang range is an intersection of three important biomes of the Northern Hemisphere: Irano-Turanian desert mountains, Eurasian semi-arid mountain woodland, and high mountains of the temperate zone. The altitudinal and site-specific zonation of the ecosystems reflect an outstanding complex of geomorphological forms and processes including countless gorges and canyons, as well as steeply sloping and precipitous ridges.
This significant geomorphological and semi-arid ecosystem complex is combined with diverse sub-terranean and surface karst phenomena, including stalactite caves and hydrographic systems formed due to dissolution and washing out of limestone. They represent an outstanding example of karst processes in long-term environmental change in a semi-arid cold winter climate that supports unique and diverse assemblages of flora and fauna with a high degree of endemism and relict species.
The mountain ecosystems of the Kugitang range consist of a distinct uplifted Jurassic limestone massif, a remote western outlier of the Gissar ridge of the Pamir-Alay Mountain system. It is sufficiently isolated and geologically distinctive from other Central Asian fold montane systems such as the Pamir-Alay themselves, Western Tien-Shan, Kopet Dag, and Hindu Kush mountains that it has formed an evolutionary lifeboat for an assemblage of endemic plant and animal species. Due to orographic precipitation, it is also an important source of water in an otherwise arid region with deep, stable natural underground water systems that contain unique aquatic biodiversity.
Criterion (vii): Caves Gulshirin and Hoshim Oyuk are ranked among the top five caves of the world. The amazing crystal formations in the caves have exceptional aesthetic value seen only in very few caves of the world, all of them restricted for visit with exception of a scientific permit.
The Kugitang range has fascinated people for centuries with its unique beauty, virgin juniper forests, and diversity of mineral, plant, and animal life. This territory has united all the particularities of Central Asian nature, where the landscapes of the mountains, rising to a height of more than three thousand metres above sea level have been preserved intact.
The site contains an exceptional diversity of contrasting scenery. The rugged inclined plateau is dissected by many spectacular long, deep gorges or canyons, with steep towering walls and plunging waterfalls. Erosion of the limestone bedrock has given rise to a huge complex of interconnected karst caves and associated cave formations or speleothems, with an extensive network of subterranean watercourses and associated sinkholes and springs.
The mountain landscapes include alpine meadows ablaze in springtime with a multitude of colourful flowers, and extensive evergreen juniper forests. Due to its natural beauty, the site is a major focus for domestic tourism with cultural and aesthetic attractions. The combination of steeply sloping and precipitous ridges, lowlands spreading directly at their foothills, and sharp differences in altitude give the Kugitang range a great unique quality.
The charm of the Kugitang range is boundless, with its majestic blue-green mountains crowned often by huge clouds and its vibrant juniper forests captivating with their unique spicy fragrance. The magic of the piercing silence, broken only by birdsong and murmuring springs, and the invigorating energy of its clear, clean air is mesmerizing, filling the soul with happiness and inspiration.
In some ways, the proposed property is like a fabulous kaleidoscope, the multicolour and beauty of which reflects all the uniqueness and diversity of fauna, flora, and picturesque landscapes of the ancient land of the Kugitang range.
Criterion (viii): Kugitang represents a textbook example of a cuesta – a large-scale geological landform formed by the tilting and erosion of sedimentary strata. What makes it exceptional is not only its clarity and completeness as a geomorphological structure, but also its remarkable dimensions and regularity: extending over 47 km, it rises more than 2,800 meters from the base in the Amudarya River valley to the summit of Airybaba (3,137 m), the highest point in Turkmenistan and the entire Ecoregion. The cuesta features a gentle, continuous dipping slope on the Turkmen side and a steep cliff escarpment along the Uzbek border, illustrating the geometry of a tilted sedimentary block with striking precision.
The slopes of the Kugitang range, formed in Jurassic limestone, are deeply incised by an exceptionally dense network of narrow, steep-walled canyons, many of which exceed 100 to 350 meters in depth. These canyons were carved by surface water during the uplift of the range, revealing spectacular cross-sections through the sedimentary sequence and creating a landscape of high geological and aesthetic value.
The massif also hosts more than 300 karst features, particularly along the cuesta’s dip slope, including numerous large cave systems with extensive developments. Most of these caves formed before the tectonic uplift, under ancient hydrogeological conditions, and are now mostly inactive. The caves contain an extraordinary and diverse precipitation and deposits of cave minerals, prevailingly gypsum, aragonite, calcite, but also fluorite. The diversity and beauty of these formations rank the site among the most mineralogically rich cave systems in Eurasia, and possibly in the world (Welch & Stoev 2019).
In the lower valleys, large Cretaceous gypsum deposits have undergone active karstification, resulting in vast cave halls, underground lakes, collapse dolines, and cenote-like features connected to an aquifer with naturally elevated mineral content. This is partly due to the surrounding gypsum formations – offering a rare example of ongoing evaporite karst processes.
Finally, the Kugitang range provides an almost continuous geological record from the Precambrian to the Cenozoic, and includes fossiliferous strata with one of the highest known densities of dinosaur footprints worldwide.
Criterion (x): The Kugitang region is typical of Central Asian fauna and flora with a substantial portion of broader and narrow endemic and globally threatened elements concentrated on a relatively small area. It has exceptional biodiversity exceeding the diversity of the surrounding semi-arid and mountain regions. Furthermore, the subterranean biodiversity of the many caves is of outstanding importance.
The Kugitang range provides habitat for many globally threatened bird and mammal species. It supports the most westerly and isolated population of the Markhor (Capra falconeri, IUCN NT), which has a very limited distribution in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Therefore, the presence of this transboundary population is vital to its global conservation. Furthermore, the mountains are habitat for a transboundary population of the Urial sheep (Ovis vignei, IUCN VU). The Kugitang range also supports the only population of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) found in Turkmenistan. Both the Urial sheep and Eurasian lynx are listed under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) in Appendix II and are part of the Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI). Due to its high importance for the conservation of these mammals, the proposed site has been identified by the CMS CAMI as a Transboundary Hotspot Site (ID: 39) (Michel 2023) and Conservation Unit prioritized for conservation in the CAMI Work Programme 2026-2032.
Globally threatened bird species found in the region include Aquila nipalensis (IUCN EN), Falco cherrug (IUCN EN), Neophron percnopterus (IUCN EN), Aegypius monachus (IUCN NT), and Gypaetus barbatus (IUCN NT).
The herpetofauna of Kugitang includes globally threatened species like Naja oxiana (IUCN NT) or Testudo horsfieldii (IUCN VU) and is characterized by the presence of numerous regionally endemic lizards.
The ichthyofauna is represented by the unique endemic cave fish Troglocobitis starostini (IUCN VU) and by Gambusia affinis, Paracobitus longicauda, Capoetobrama kuschakewitschi, and Capoeta capoeta, Alburnoides cf. taeniatus.
From stygobiotic (cave and groundwater) crustaceans the endemic species Gammarus troglomorphus, Gammarus parvioculatus, Stenasellus asiaticus, Microcharon halophylus, Bogidiella ruffoi, and Bryocyclops jankowskajae are recorded. From the subterranean snails inhabiting caves, springs, and groundwater, the endemic species of Kainarella minima, Pseudocaspia ljovushkini, P. starostini, P. kainarensis, and Martensamnicola cf. brevicula with new species Kanarella sp. and Kainrella sp. are of high ecological importance. The brackish springs host Melanoides kainarensis endemic to the region. The terrestrial gastropod fauna dominates with Psudonapaeus eremita, Macrochlamys kasnakowi, Cabdaharia aethiops, Cecilioides bensoni, Truncatellina calcicratis, Gibbulinopsis signata, Vallonia pulchella, Vallonia ladakhensis, and Oligolimax annularis and the find of Granopuppa persica is noteworthy as second record of the species after its 1,000 km remote type locality in Iran. The two species of gastropod genus Pyramidula is still under investigation. From Arthropoda the obligatory troglofauna of arthropods is characterized by an undescribed millipede Bollmania sp. and a Pseudoscorpion of family Chernetidae, as well as and spiders Pholcus parthicus and Megalepthyphantes nebulosoides. From surface dwelling arthropods the Ixodida Imparipes kugitangensis, Imparipes placidus, Imparipes katalglyphi, Scutacarus sabinaesmilis, Scutacarus rotindulus, Premicrodispus paradoxus, and Premicrodispus heterocaudatus are endemic to the Kugitang region. Many of the local arthropods are included in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan (2024) including Carabus (Axinocarabus) fedtschenkoi, Melanotus dolini (Coleoptera), and Canophyma bactrianum with Saga pedo (Othhoptera) (IUCN VU) and the formicid Monomorium kugitangi endemic to the region.
The flora of Kugitang includes numerous globally endangered plant species, including Amygdalus bucharica (IUCN VU), Pistacia vera (IUCN NT), or Tulipa ingens (IUCN NT). Additionally, many plant species endemic to the Kugitang region can be found here, among these Astragalus bobrovii (IUCN EN).
Statements of authenticity and/or integrity
The component part meets the requirements of integrity. As an isolated mountain area, Kugitang represents an integral natural complex. Established in 1986/1990 and currently managed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan, all four protected areas of the component part benefit from long and strong legal protection status. There is no public access to the caves of the component part. Therefore, the vulnerable subterranean realm has developed without any anthropogenic influence and remains completely untouched.
The component part is sufficiently large to provide habitat for all conservation target species, their migratory movements and ecological processes.
All protected areas have well-defined boundaries. The presence of a buffer zone gives the component part the additional guarantee of integrity. The crest of the Kugitang ridge forms the international border with Uzbekistan.
Justification of the selection of the component part(s) in relation to the future nomination as a whole
The selected component part is geographically restricted and integrates most of the important sites and aspects of the conservation subjects with landscape formations and has a potential of further expansion of the territory in the case of future justification by additional cave, spring or wetland inclusion to the protected area.
Kugitang represents a self-contained mountain landscape unit. The Turkmen component part of Kugitang consists of the Koytendag State Nature Reserve and three Wildlife Sanctuaries. Together with the Uzbek component part it forms a compact transboundary property of high integrity including all natural values, which are relevant for criteria (vii), (viii), and (x). The four protected areas of the Turkmen component part are managed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan.
Comparison with other similar properties
The proposed property has to be compared with karst features and caves on the World Heritage List and national Tentative Lists, as well as with mountain landscapes within the Pamir-Tian Shan Highlands Province. The World Heritage List includes nearly 50 properties with outstanding karst values, and the Tentative Lists contain about 30 sites. However, nearly all of them are located in tropical-subtropical and temperate humid environments. Within arid and semi-arid landscapes, karst phenomena are exceptional and they are neither represented on the World Heritage List nor on Tentative Lists (Williams 2008).
The unique cuesta morphology with a 47 km long and 1,200 m high cliff is at this size a geomorphologically unique phenomena usually known from much smaller geological formations. There are comparable sites with much smaller extent in Talampaya (Argentina) and Wulingyuan (China) exhibiting dramatic sedimentary reliefs but lacking the continuous asymmetric slope structure characteristic of a true cuesta. The sites of Canaima (Venezuela) and Chiribiquete (Colombia) showcase tabular remnants of erosion-resistant strata, yet without the systematic dip-slope geometry observed in the Kugitang range. The Grand Canyon features stratified cliffs, but as part of an incised plateau rather than a monoclinal ridge. Kugitang stands out as a globally rare case of a massive, large continuous cuesta – extending over 50 km, with a gentle, canyon-dissected dip slope rising more than 2,800 m – making it a geomorphological reference of globally exceptional value.
The canyon formations are unique by the high density of the canyons and gorges forming an interesting geomorphological web and representing thus a unique geomorphologic phenomenon. What makes the Kugitang range exceptional is the combination of high canyon density, depth (often 100-350 m), and incision into a gently dipping limestone slope. Several UNESCO World Heritage Sites feature dense networks of canyons or gorges, such as Wulingyuan (China), Bungle Bungle Range (Australia), and Tassili n'Ajjer (Algeria). However, these are often developed in sandstone and lack the vertical range and structural incision observed in the Kugitang. Sites like the Sierra de San Francisco (Mexico) display karstic gorges, but on a smaller scale and with less geomorphological coherence. Thus, also among the other canyonlands the Kugitang range is unique.
The caves formed in Jurassic limestone are unique by their old speleogenesis and exceptional speleothems and crystals of high density in some caves. They are of a high aesthetical value, and globally comparable to very few similar caves such as Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico USA and Nica Cave in Mexico, however with different gypsum formations. Concerning the diversity of cave minerals, they belong to the top ten mineral rich caves in the world (Welch & Stoev 2019). The large karstic phreatic channels in the Cretaceus gypsum evaporites are in their extent and size also a unique geological phenomenon for which it is hard to find global analogues. The troglobitic and stygobiotic fauna of the area are not fully investigated yet, but its hitherto known diversity is exceeding the diversities known from arid and semi-arid karst areas in Algeria and Israel. The stygobiotic animals are likely the remains from the brackish Paratethys Lake dating back 10-20 million years ago. None of the known Pratethys refugia in the world are associated with karst and thus host much lower numbers of relict species. The humid caves also provide shelter for many rare epigean animals during the hot and dry seasons, and thus host a very rich troglophilic assemblages.Within the Pamir-Tian Shan Highlands Province, the proposed property has to be compared with Western Tien-Shan (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan), Xinjing Tianshan (China), and Tajik National Park (Tajikistan) World Heritage Sites, as well as Badkhyz State Nature Reserve and Syunt Hasardag State Nature Reserve on the Turkmen Tentative List.