Uzbekistan’s 1,500-year-old Eastern Biota on international list of Monumental Trees

By Kuban Andymen

BISHKEK: A 1,500-year-old Eastern Biota is now among several of Uzbekistan’s ancient and rare trees on the international list of Monumental Trees, a platform that highlights historically important trees worldwide.

The register is an online record of perennial, rare, and unique tree species of international importance located throughout the world, aimed to protect and promote national natural heritage sites.

Other Uzbekistan trees that have joined the register are a plane tree (over 1,160 years old) in the Urgut District of the Samarkand region; a juniper (over 1,000 years old), hazelnut (over 800 years old), and plane tree (about 600 years old) in the Bostanlyk District of the Tashkent region;

More trees include a plane tree (900 years old) in the village of Sayrob in the Baysun District of the Surkhandarya region; a plane tree (over 750 years old) at the Dorus-Saodat Memorial Complex in the city of Shakhrisabz, Kashkadarya region, and the Boboyongoq hazelnut tree (about 700 years old) in Zaamin National Nature Park, Jizzakh region.

“We continue our efforts to include information about the country’s long-lived and rare trees in the international list MonumentalTrees.com. This initiative aims to promote tourism and ecotourism in the republic,” Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change, Asiaplus said.

The MonumentalTrees.com list plays an essential role in introducing the global public to national natural landmarks and fostering tourism development.

According to the ministry, Uzbekistan is the first country in Central Asia and the third in the CIS (after Russia and Azerbaijan) to have its natural sites included in this international registry.