Camera-trap and observational surveys carried out between 2006 and 2018 confirmed the presence of many species in Bamyan Plateau, including the rare Persian leopard, Himalayan ibex, urial, and wolf and more. It's also home to species that so far haven't been recorded elsewhere in Afghanistan, the southwest Asian badger and the boreal owl.
Bamyan Plateau Protected Area becomes the fifth protected area in Afghanistan and the second largest after Wahkan National Park.
“In this area,” said WCS’s John Robinson, “the long and intertwined histories of wildlife and human inhabitants have preserved a rich and spectacular biological and cultural landscape.”
WCS scientists and wildlife conservationists were involved in all stages of the process to support the establishment of the Bamyan Plateau Protected Area, including through leveraging significant funds, providing technical expertise to collect biological and social baseline information, facilitating community engagement and consultation processes, establishing provisional planning, undertaking social and ecological monitoring, and mobilizing government and local stakeholders. The WCS Afghanistan team drafted the technical brief upon which the Afghanistan government based its decision to ultimately designate this new protected area.
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