Azerbaijan, Iran

Hyrcanian Forests

WHS Score 2.25
rate
Votes 16 Average 2.62
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Votes for Hyrcanian Forests

1.0

  • Els Slots

1.5

  • Solivagant

2.0

  • Stanislaw Warwas
  • Thomas Buechler
  • Wojciech Fedoruk
  • Zoë Sheng

2.5

  • Alexander Barabanov
  • Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero
  • Clyde
  • JobStopar
  • Szucs Tamas
  • Thomas van der Walt

3.5

  • Alexander Lehmann

4.0

  • Afshin Iranpour
  • BH

5.0

  • Fmaiolo@yahoo.com

The Hyrcanian Forests comprise a 1,000km long massif covered in ancient natural broad-leaved forests.

They date back 25 - 50 million years when such forests covered most parts of the Northern Temperate region – after periods of glaciation these became isolated remnants. The forests cover inaccessible steep terrain. They show high floristic biodiversity (3,200 vascular plants) and are home to forest birds and the iconic Persian Leopard.

Community Perspective: Among the components in Iran, Wojciech visited Abr Forest, and Zoë also covered Abr plus National Golestan Forest. Clyde so far has provided the best coverage of Khanbulan in Azerbaijan (a component later withdrawn from the nomination/inscription).

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Hyrcanian Forests (ID: 1584)
Countries
Azerbaijan Iran
Status
Inscribed 2019 Site history
History of Hyrcanian Forests
2006: Deferred
to consider options for renominating the property as part of a transnational serial property with other Hirkanian forest areas in Iran
2019: Revision
Includes former TWHS Golestan NP (2007-2013)
2019: Inscribed
Inscribed
2023: Extended
Extended with 2 forests in Azerbaijan : Dangyaband (Northern HNP) and İstisuchay Valley (Southern HNP)
2023: Extension rejected
The extension with other sites in Azerbaijan (Khanbulan) and Iran (Dizmar East and Dizmar West) was not approved.
WHS Type
Natural
Criteria
  • ix
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article
  • Nov. 12, 2020 tehrantimes.com — Gondola lift threatens Hyrcanian forests UNESCO tag

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Natural landscape: Forest
Travel Information
Serial Transnational Sites
Serial Transnational Sites
Iran and Azerbaijan
Red Zone Travel Advisory
Red Zone Travel Advisory
Iranian parts fully off-limits
Teheran Hotspot
Teheran Hotspot
chahar bagh 1h 20 min away
Recent Connections
View all (18) .
Connections of Hyrcanian Forests
Ecology
  • Refugium
    "The nominated property contains Arcto-Tertiary relicts from broad-leaved forests that 25-50 million years ago covered most parts of the Northern Temperate Zone. These huge forest areas retreated during Quaternary glaciations and later during milder climate, expanded and spread out from this refugia. It is considered as an origin for European broad-leaved forests and, due to this isolation, hosts many relict, endangered, regional and local endemic flora species" (IUCN)
  • Eagles
    Steppe Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle (Official description)
  • Bears
    brown bear (AB ev)
  • Gray Wolf
    "They comprise full ecosystems including top predators such as leopard, wolf and brown bear." (AB ev)
  • Bird Migrations
    "an important resting area for birds migrating between Russia and Africa" (wiki)
World Heritage Process
WHS on Other Lists
  • World Biosphere Reserves
    Golestan National Park
  • WWF Global 200
    Terrestrial, Temperate Coniferous Forests: (78) Caucasus-Anatolian-Hyrcanian temperate forest (subregion Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests)

    See web.archive.org

  • Centres of Plant Diversity
    SWA18 Hyrcanian Forests - "The floristic biodiversity of the Hyrcanian region is remarkable at the global level with over 3,200 vascular plants documented. Due to its isolation, the property hosts many relict, endangered, and regionally and locally endemic plant species"
Timeline
  • Eocene
    The nominated property contains Arcto-Tertiary relicts from broad-leaved forests that 25-50 million years ago covered most parts of the Northern Temperate Zone. (AB ev)
WHS Hotspots
Visiting conditions
News
tehrantimes.com 11/12/2020
Gondola lift threatens Hyrcanian f…

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 12/09/23.

Clyde

Hyrcanian Forests

Hyrcanian Forests (Inscribed)

Hyrcanian Forests by Clyde

I visited the Azeri location closest to Xanbulan in 2023, knowing that this tWHS has great potential of being an easy extension to the already inscribed Iranian WHS this year (the Colchic Forests WHS in Georgia made it as a separate inscription!).

The "rangers' office" of the Hirkan National Park (Hirkan Milli Parki) and the best base for any organised or guided visit of one of the many trails around the 3 locations in Azerbaijan can be found along the main road 2-3km outside Xanbulan proper and the actual locations, not far from the Khanbulan lake. Unless you decide to cover a lot of ground with a multiday hike (on mostly muddy terrain), a guide is not necessary and online or offline (better) GPS maps are sufficient for a day trip from Baku towards the Iranian border. Should you opt for a guided visit, do make sure to call well ahead as the office doesn't seem to have fixed opening hours and supposedly an entrance ticket is charged too. The areas around and south of Xanbulan which I tried to cover during my day trip, involved some hairpins and minor offroading with my rental car, mostly because the area is prone to flooding and mudslides, and the only rangers I saw were busy covering higher ground on horseback and didn't charge me any entrance ticket.

The parking area close to the lake is very touristy and popular among locals, with lots of makeshift tea houses, swings, photo spots …

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First published: 27/07/22.

Boj

Hyrcanian Forests

Hyrcanian Forests (Inscribed)

Hyrcanian Forests by Boj

In July 2022, I arranged a day trip from Baku to Khanbulan Lake, about 3 hours away to Lankaran, close to the border of Iran. I originally intended to arrange a foreist hike within Hirkan National Park, but could not contact any available guide during the Eid ul-Adha holiday.

Instead, I trekked along the lake, admiring the lush forest along the trail. There were tourists camping around the lake area.

I would give it a thumbs up, come inscription time. The park managers argue that the Hirkan forest ecosystems on the Azerbaijan side are just as intact and uncompromised as their Iranian counterparts'. And the locals pledge to protect the territory.

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First published: 15/11/20.

Els Slots

Hyrcanian Forests

Hyrcanian Forests (Inscribed)

Hyrcanian Forests by Els Slots

During the past week Azerbaijan has replaced its TWHS “Hyrcanian State Reserve”, dating from 1998, with “Hirkan Forests”. This revision follows the change in the national park structure that happened in 2004 and a further enlargement of the protected area in 2008. Though it may seem like a minor administrative adjustment, a change like this usually indicates an upcoming official nomination of the site. In this case it would be an extension to the Iranian Hyrcanian Forests WHS from 2019. The new Azeri TWHS is known for its ancient, deciduous mixed broad-leaved forests - in normal language that means: trees that shed their flat, usually veined, leaves. It comprises 3 locations.

A similar, but smaller site was nominated for inclusion in the WH List already in 2006 as “Hirkan Forests of Azerbaijan”. It was Deferred at the time with the option to renominate it as part of a transnational serial property with other Hirkanian forest areas in Iran.

When I re-read that IUCN evaluation now, I see no strong argument to either include or reject it. The forests are said to be of equal importance to sites known for vascular plant diversity already on the List, such as the Great Smoky Mountains. The Azeri site’s size is small, but there might be OUV if linked to Hirkanian forest sites in Iran. (I do not really understand this point as all components of a serial site should show OUV individually, so this alone should not have been a reason …

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First published: 23/02/19.

Zoë Sheng

Hyrcanian Forests

Hyrcanian Forests (Inscribed)

Hyrcanian Forests by Zoë Sheng

I visited 2 parts of this nomination in January 2019. Abr Forest was my first stop and it is very tourist centric, with many guest houses and hikes around “Cloud Forest”. Unfortunately on day 2 it started snowing in the morning and the visibility was so bad it was really hazardous to take the 83 through the Khar Turan NP (not part of the Hyrcanian Forest nomination btw). Once I made it to Gonbad Kavus and visited Qabus I continued driving East.

Here I drove through the National Golestan Forest, formerly listed as a separate nomination under the name Golestan NP which aren't technically the same thing but I think mean the same area. So actually I drove through the national park and there are already signs that is is listed on the tentative list for world heritage. I was impressed with the rock formations and the the forest looks healthy but I saw no real good place to stop and enjoy a hike, picnic or whatever. Many people stopped on the way just in the side of the road to feed the boars (hate that). The NP is huge and the main road cuts right through it so there may be smaller areas on the side that actually allow for more touristy stuff.

I highly doubt this is worthy of the title world heritage. The document doesn't even describe why it is unique. Just reading “natural beauty and its masterpieces of nature creative genius in the form …

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First published: 23/02/19.

Wojciech Fedoruk

Hyrcanian Forests

Hyrcanian Forests (Inscribed)

Hyrcanian Forests by Wojciech Fedoruk

What you could do if WHC refuses to inscribe one of your proposed sites? One of the options is to add several similar, mediocre sites and propose it under different name and slightly different criteria. This is what is happening in Iran after unsuccessfull proposal of Arasabaran Forest. After negative opinion of IUCN, one year after deferral it comes again as part of Hyrcanian forests. The proposal consists of several forest parks located near Caspian Sea. We managed to visit only one of them – Abr Forest, a nice and quick detour on our way back from Gonbad-e Qabus to Tehran.

I have to admit that once we entered Abr, we felt like we were in a completely different country. The forest was very green and wild, wet and cloudy. Landscapes were pretty, as the area is mountainous. Abr Forest is also named 'Cloud Forest' – this is because relatively high altitude, resulting with frequent clouds and mist. We saw clouds, but were lucky enough to see mountain peaks and picturesque valleys. Although landscapes were fine, I really cannot understand where is the OUV of this site. State party's description of 'masterpieces of nature creative genius in the form of this ancient forest' make me only laugh.

Travel warning – we entered Abr Forest from Aliabad-e Katul and wanted to cross it to Shahrud (with one tentative site and another one nearby). This road cannot be driven without 4WD. It is very good at the beginning but then …

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