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Aralkum National Nature Park

National park created in 2022 on the dried bed of the Aral Sea in Muynak district, covering about 1 million hectares including the former Vozrozhdeniya island.

NatureFounded 2022

About the place

Aralkum National Nature Park was created in 2022 on the exposed bed of the Aral Sea in Muynak district of Karakalpakstan. It covers about one million hectares, of which some 585,000 hectares form a strictly protected zone, and it takes in the former Vozrozhdeniya island, once in the middle of the sea.

The aim is to protect and restore life on the new desert, where saxaul and other hardy plants are being planted to hold the salty soil. There is no visitor infrastructure yet, and travel here means long off-road drives. Ask an experienced operator in Nukus or Muynak about access and permits before planning a trip.

Why go

  • About 1 million hectares of former seabed
  • Former Vozrozhdeniya island
  • Saxaul planting on the new desert

Sources (1)

  1. 1.Wikidata

Nearby

  • Aral SeaNature

    23 km away

    Aral Sea

    Once the world's fourth-largest lake, the Aral has shrunk to a fraction of its size since the 1960s, leaving the Aralkum desert behind.

  • Saigachy State ReserveNature

    88 km away

    Saigachy State Reserve

    A vast protected area on the north-western Ustyurt plateau, set up in 1991 to protect the saiga antelope and its breeding grounds.

  • Ustyurt Plateau and the Aral shoreNature

    104 km away

    Ustyurt Plateau and the Aral shore

    A flat desert plateau that ends in tall pale cliffs above the remaining waters of the Aral Sea, reached on multi-day trips by four-wheel drive.

  • Moynaq and the ship cemeteryNature

    133 km away

    Moynaq and the ship cemetery

    A former fishing port on the Aral Sea, now far from the water, where rusting boats lie on the old seabed and a local museum tells the town's story.