Afghanistan

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Country’s Environmental Profile

Afghanistan is a semi arid and landlocked mountainous country buffered by the Hindu Kush mountain ranges. The country is the 41st largest in the world in size and lies at the intersection of three of the world’s biogeographic realms: the Palearctic, Indomalayan, and Afrotropic bioregions.

Natural resources and associated biological diversity provides the livelihood basis for up to 80% of the Afghan population. Biodiversity resources in Afghanistan comprise an estimated 3,500-4,000 native species of vascular plants, 428-515 bird species, 137-150 mammal species, 101-139 fish species, 92-112 reptile species, and 6-8 amphibian species (UNEP 2009).

Rangelands of Afghanistan occupy about 30 million hectares, representing roughly 45 per cent of the country’s territory. However large areas which are considered ‘barren land’ or ‘waste land’ are also used for grazing, particularly in winter. The total grazeable area is therefore much larger, estimated at 70–85 per cent of the total land area, providing habitat and forage for nearly 35 million livestock as well as numerous wild animals.

Afghanistan is an agrarian country, with up to 80 percent of the population involved in farming or herding, or both, however agricultural production is limited by very high dependence on water from melting snow and ice and rainfall.

Almost all of the country’s known oil and natural gas reserves are in the northern part of the country, located in parts of two geologic basins – gas in the Amu Darya Basin to the west, and oil in the Afghan-Tajik Basin to the east. Afghanistan has reasonably good quality coal reserves (estimated at 400 million tonnes), most of which are located in the northern part of the country in the region between Herat and Badakshan.

Country’s Environmental Profile

Designation Type/ Name of Protected Areas	Status	Year of designation	Area (km2)	IUCN category
National Park
Ajar Valley	Proposed	2003	296.01	Not Reported
Nuristan	Proposed		0.00	Not Reported
Provisional National Park
Band-e-Amir	Designated	2009	613.30	II
Waterfowl Sanctuary
Ab-i-Estada	Designated	1977	270.00	IV
Dashte-Nawar	Designated	1977	75.00	II
Hamun-i-Puzak	Proposed	1973	350.00	IV
Kole Hashmat Khan	Proposed	1973	1.91	IV
Wildlife Managed Reserve
Darqad (Takhar)	Proposed		0.00	Not Reported
Dashte-Nawar	Proposed		0.00	Not Reported
Northwest Afghanistan	Proposed		0.00	Not Reported
Registan Desert	Proposed		0.00	Not Reported
Wildlife Reserve
Ajar Valley	Designated	1977	400.00	IV
Big Pamir	Designated	1978	577.00	IV

Major International Environmental Agreements :

Conventions/Treaties	Ratified year
United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea	signed 1983 but no ratified
Kyoto Protocol	2013
Framework on Convention on Climate Change	2002
Convention of Biological Diversity	2002
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer	2004
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer	2004
Convention to Combat Desertification	1995
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora	Date of enforcement: 1/28/1996
Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposals	2013
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty	2003
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968)	1992

Principal Environmental Laws

Pre-2001 legislation

• Forestry Law of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan 2000
• Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Law for Land Ownership, 2000
• Hunting and Wildlife Protection Law, 2000
• Range Management Law, 1970/ 2000
• Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Law for Land Ownership, 2000

Post-2001 legislation

• Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan- 2003
• Decree on the prohibition of hunting- 2005
• Environmental Act – 2005
• Ozone Regulations- 2006

Environmental Law- 2007

• Water Law- 2008
• EIA Regulations- 2008

Environmental Related Reports

• Afghanistan’s Environment, 2008
• Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS)  –  Adopted in 2008

The National Capacity Needs Self-Assessment for Global Environmental Management (NCSA) and National Adaptation Programme of Action for Climate Change (NAPA)- 2008

Afghanistan’s Environment in Transition – Ali Azimi and David McCauley, ADB 2002

Biodiversity Profile of Afghanistan -,UNEP, Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch 2008

A Guide to Afghanistan’s 2007,Environment Law – UNEP/NEPA

Assessment of Biomass Resources in Afghanistan – Anelia Milbrandt and Ralph Overend

National Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan (Framework for Implementation 2014 – 2017) – UNEP,GEF

Fifth National Report to the United Nation’s Convention on Biological Diversity – NEAPA 2014