Protected areas of Turkmenistan
Protected areas of Turkmenistan include nine nature reserves and 13 sanctuaries with a total area of 19,750 km2 or more than 4% of Turkmenistan's territory.
Nature reserves
- Repetek Nature Reserve, in Lebap Province, East Karakum Desert, near Amu Darya. Created in 1927 for study and preservation of a sand-desert ecosystem. Area 346 km2.
- Hazar Nature Reserve, on the south-east coast of the Caspian Sea, in Balkan Province. Area 2,690 km2.
- Bathyz Nature Reserve, in Mary Province, between Kushka and Tejen rivers. Created in 1941 for the protection of the Badkhyz Plateau ecosystem. Area 877 km2.
- Köpetdag Nature Reserve, in the central part of the Kopetdag Range. Created in 1976 for the protection of indigenous flora and fauna. Area 497 km2.
- Sünt-Hasardag Nature Reserve, in South-West Kopetdag. Created in 1977 for the restoration and study of indigenous flora and fauna. Area 303 km2.
- Gaplaňgyr Nature Reserve, at the border with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in the north-west. Created in 1979 for the protection and restoration of indigenous flora and fauna of the Kaplkankyr Plateau and surrounding areas of Northern Turkmenistan. Area 2,822 km2.
- Amyderýa Nature Reserve, in the north-east of Lebap Province on the Amu Darya. Created in 1982 with an area of 495 km2.
- Köýtendag Nature Reserve, at the extreme east of the country, in the Köýtendag Range. Created in 1986 with an area of 271.4 km2.
- Bereketli Garagum Nature Reserve, created in 2013.
Sanctuaries
- Chemenibit
- Kyzyldzhar
- Pulkhatyn
- Meana-Chaаcha
- Kurykhovdan
- Syunt-Khasardag
- Sarykamysh
- Shasenem
- Kelif Sanctuary
- Khodzhabuzhybelent
- Khodzhapil
- Karlyuk
- Hojagarawul Sanctuary
- Ogurchinskiy