Repetek Biosphere Reserve

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One of the beautiful places in the Karakum desert is the Repetek Reserve. It is located in the eastern Karakum. Here there is a big variety of sandy relief and natural monuments. The word Repetek is translated from the Arabic language as “the confined place with insipid water”.
The Repetek Reserve was founded in 1927 on the basis of the scientific station, existing here since 1912. The main activity of the Repetek Reserve is preservation and study of flora and fauna of the arid zone. Its total area is 34,600 hectares. The climate here is typical for the continental subtropical deserts.
Flora in the Reserve accounts about 120 different kinds of aboriginal flower plants, 8 kinds of soil mushrooms, 4 kinds of lichens, 18 kinds of soil alga and some kinds of endemic plants. The animal world of the Reserve is also rich. Here live 26 species of mammals, 198 species of birds, 22 species of reptiles. In the Reserve there is a Nature Museum, displaying 13 kinds of stuffed animals, 62 species of stuffed birds and 21 species of stuffed reptiles.