Highlights of Azerbaijan Nature

By Jenna Jolie

Flora
Azerbaijan Nature - Fauna
Fish Fauna
National Reserves

Flora

The territory of the Azerbaijan Republic is rich in flora. Here grow over 4,500 kinds of flowering plants with rare and endangered ones among them. The Azerbaijan 's forests are broad-leaved, mixed, and riparian. There are also plantings of evergreen plants, orohylile light forests, alpine meadows (in the mountains).

Azerbaijan Nature - Fauna

The fauna of Azerbaijan is rather varied. The forests are inhabited by bears, wolves, deer, lynxes, wild boars. In arid zones and plains one can find plenty of lizards, adders and other reptiles as well as hares, wolves, foxes. The fauna of the Kura and Araks rivers is represented by wild boars, roe deer, badgers, jackals. Larger animals are goitered gazelles, East Caucasian turs, roe deer, and chamois. The shallow gulfs of the Caspian Sea are populated by a variety of birds - pheasants, partridges, red grouses. Most birds come there to winter - ducks, geese, swans, herons, pelicans, flamingoes, cormorants, etc.

Fish Fauna

30 kinds of fishes are allowed to be caught in the fresh waters of the Republic and in the Caspian Sea . Many of them can be caught in the Kura and some water reservoirs. The most valuable fishes are salmon, sturgeon, beluga, asp, shamai and lamprey. There are also breams, carps etc.

The Republic's fish farms grow various kinds of fishes. 20 million sturgeon hatchlings, 600 thousand of salmon and more than 800 million of breams, carps and other fishes

National Reserves

Azerbaijan nature possessions are abounding. Even unique Cainozoic woods have survived there. These are impossible to find anywhere else in the world. So it is no wonder that the government creates and takes care of numerous nature conservation territories.

The reserves such as Kyzylagach, Zakatalsk and Shirvan are regarded on the global level of significance . The Girkansk Reserve protects relic vegetation of the Talysh Mountains and Lenkoran Lowland.

The Turianchai Reserve protects the well-known eldar pine.

The natural complexes of the east part of the Major Caucasus are preserved by Ismaill Reserve, and one of the most beautiful lakes of the world – Lake Gyoigyol and surrounding natural complexes of Minor Caucasus surrounding are protected by Gyoigyol Reserve.

Other interesting reserves are Aggel, Basutchai, Karayaz, Kyzylgadj, Pirkulin, Turianchai Reserves as well as 16 others.