VZCZCXRO9665
RR RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHPW RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #2357/01 2041035
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231035Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9241
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 002357 
 
SIPDIS 
 
OSD WASHINGTON DC 
JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC 
SECDEF WASHINGTON DC 
HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL 
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC 
CIA WASHINGTON DC 
DIA WASHINGTON DC 
DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC 
USEPA WASHINGTON DC 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/FOR, SCA/RA, AND SCA/A 
DEPT FOR S/TAS and OES/STC 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR GERBER 
USDOC FOR DEES, CHOPPIN, AND FONOVICH 
CENTCOM FOR  CG CJTF-82, POLADDEPT PLEASE PASS TO 
USEPA/INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 
OSD FOR SHIVERS 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: SENV TBIO PGOV EIND AF
SUBJECT: BAND-I-AMIR LAKES, AFGHANISTAN'S FIRST NATURAL PROTECTED 
AREA 
 
REF: KABUL 2069 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. The GoA and the international community are laying the groundwork 
to establish Afghanistan's first natural protected area at central 
Afghanistan's Band-i-Amir lakes in Bamyan Province.  A recent visit 
there showed that the current circumstances at the lakes--one of the 
world's few large travertine lake complexes--appear to support the 
case for protecting the area.  Embassy personnel met with local 
community leaders to hear their thoughts on the prospective 
protected status and how protection might affect the livelihoods of 
the people in the area.  Given the uniqueness of the lake complex, 
the area may merit eventual designation as a UNESCO World Heritage 
Site--a designation that depends on Afghanistan's ability to protect 
the area.  End summary. 
 
 
AFGHANISTAN'S FIRST NATIONAL PARK 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. Through the Embassy Science Fellows program, Embassy has been 
working with Afghanistan's National Environmental Protection Agency 
(NEPA) on a number of projects, including the protection of areas of 
extraordinary environmental value (reftel).  The main protection 
effort is focused on the travertine lakes of Band-i-Amir.  The 
Band-i-Amir lakes are situated in central Afghanistan, about 75 km 
west of Bamyan, and they comprise one of the world's most uniquely 
beautiful landscapes.  The system comprises a chain of six lakes 
situated within a valley surrounded by steep 300-m cliff walls.  The 
distinguishing feature of these lakes is their naturally formed 
travertine dams, which occur when gaseous carbon dioxide from 
calcium-rich spring water is fixed by bacterial or algal activity. 
The calcium gradually builds up in particular spots and ultimately 
dams the running water.  There are very few locations in the world 
where this phenomenon occurs, and Band-i-Amir is a striking example. 
 The travertine dams at Band-i-Amir approach 10 m. in height and 
several hundred meters in length.  The lakes attract local and 
foreign tourists and could be an important destination for 
eco-tourism, if provided the proper management and community 
support. 
 
¶3. The lakes at Band-i-Amir appear to be in good hydrological 
condition and, despite a recent long series of drought years in 
Afghanistan, water levels appeared to be normal to high.  Water 
clarity appeared excellent.  Despite obvious human activity on the 
travertine dams, they appear to be structurally sound.  However, 
increased tourist activity could jeopardize the natural structures; 
the most heavily visited dam features motorcycle, horse, and donkey 
rentals below the dams, as well as brightly colored fiberglass swan 
boats and a power boat (the "Donald Duck") in the lake itself.  It 
is clear that the area will need active management to protect water 
quality and the integrity of the natural dams. 
 
¶4. There are a few small villages scattered within the watershed of 
Band-i-Amir.  These communities earn their livelihoods from 
livestock grazing and subsistence farming of wheat and potatoes, 
using gravity-fed irrigation.  Although we had previously been 
informed that the area was overgrazed, only the areas in the 
immediate vicinity of the communities appeared to be experiencing 
noticeable plant and soil degradation from grazing pressures.  The 
grazing pressures in the watershed appear to be localized, so it 
will be important for the health and integrity of the Band-i-Amir 
watershed that the grazing be appropriately managed.  All of the 
villages we saw were located at least 400 m. from the shores of the 
lake. 
 
¶5. Evidence of the presence of native megafauna was scant, but local 
community leaders indicated that such wildlife is present within the 
watershed, and that it has been under pressure from hunting.  This 
is further reason for protecting the area. 
 
¶6. It is clear that the GoA and its partners have much to do in the 
 
KABUL 00002357  002 OF 002 
 
 
way of building local awareness of what park status will mean, and 
they will have to set realistic expectations.  A leader of the local 
shura (informal council) expressed concern about efforts to move a 
small bazaar a couple of hundred yards further away from the 
travertine dam--a concern that may be conditioned by his ownership 
of the bazaar building.  Locals also indicated that they thought a 
large luxury hotel or two, full of rich Western tourists, would 
arrive shortly after the park is created.  (NOTE: Band-i-Amir is a 
hard, dusty three-hour drive on dirt tracks from Bamyan, 75 km away. 
 Bamyan itself is a 10-hour drive over bad roads from Kabul, the 
nearest significant population center with an international airport. 
 While Bamyan residents make the trek to Band-i-Amir for weekend 
recreation, the broader tourism potential depends on better roads 
and better security in Kabul, the air portal for foreign tourists. 
END NOTE.)  There appeared to be little awareness of the possible 
impact of protection on grazing and other agricultural activities on 
the more remote parts of the lakes' watershed. 
 
 
ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT 
---------------------- 
 
¶7. Embassy has been working with NEPA, the United Nations 
Environmental Program, the Asian Development Bank, the USAID-funded 
Wildlife Conservation Society and others to put the framework in 
place to protect areas of significant environmental and natural 
heritage value in Afghanistan.  A Band-i-Amir Coordinating Committee 
composed of representatives from the donor community, NGOs, and GoA 
agencies is currently working on an interim park management plan 
while waiting for the Parliament to approve draft legislation 
declaring Band-i-Amir a protected area.  In addition to the effort 
to protect Band-i-Amir, NEPA and the international community are 
working to identify wetland resources for conservation and 
protection under the Ramsar Convention.  Part of this effort, in 
which the Embassy Science Fellow has been involved, is the 
development of a draft law on protected areas.  Indeed, passage of 
this law and implementing regulations is necessary both to protect 
Band-i-Amir and to lay the groundwork for designating the area as a 
UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Embassy has also advised the GoA on 
involving local communities and including economic development as an 
integral part of the protection plans.  For Band-i-Amir, essentially 
the test case for the GoA's protected areas efforts, there will be 
more opportunities for USG assistance once the GoA has passed the 
appropriate legislation and adopted implementing regulations.  At 
that time, the USG could help with training the management and staff 
that will administer the protected area. 
 
 
COMMENT: WORTH THE EFFORT TO PROTECT 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶8. The visit to Band-i-Amir, a rare foray into Afghanistan's natural 
areas, confirmed that the country has natural assets worth 
protecting.  At least some of those assets, like Band-i-Amir, 
benefit from sparse population, inaccessibility, and apparent 
absence of exploitable natural resources.  Other assets, such as the 
cedar forests of Nuristan or the ibex herds of the Hazarajat, are 
not so lucky, and they have been depleted with astonishing rapidity 
over the past 25 years.  From a purely economic point of view, these 
assets are worth preserving, if only because they have some 
potential for generating tourism revenue.  Embassy would argue that 
it is also worth preserving whatever fraction of Afghanistan's 
natural heritage that still remains.  Based on our conversations 
with ordinary people here, it appears that the notion of natural 
patrimony is very much a part of Afghan culture, and that the GoA 
would do well to show itself doing something to preserve that. 
 
WOOD