Camping Trip to Hyrcanian Mixed Forests in IRAN – Part 1

Camping Trip to Hyrcanian Mixed Forests in IRAN – Part 1

In this video, my friends and I traveled to the ancient #Hyrcanian forests, millions of years old, located in the #Mazandaran province in northern #Iran, and we camped overnight in this beautiful #forest. This video is part 1.

Music: Time by Avanti

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About the Hyrcanian Forests:
The Hyrcanian Forests form a unique forested massif that stretches along the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan and Iran. The history of these broad-leaved forests dates back 25 to 50 million years, when they covered most of this Northern Temperate region. Their floristic biodiversity is remarkable with over 3,200 vascular plant species documented. To date, 180 species of birds typical of broad-leaved temperate forests and 58 mammal species have been recorded. Elements of the property comprise full ecosystems including top predators such as leopard, wolf and brown bear, and the forest has a high degree of rare and endemic tree species. The oldest trees seen here are 300-400 years old, with some possibly up to 500 years old.

The Hyrcanian Forests form a green arc of forest, separated from the Caucasus to the west and from semi-desert areas to the east: a unique forested massif that extends from south-eastern Azerbaijan eastwards to the Golestan Province, in Iran. The Hyrcanian Forests World Heritage property is situated in Azerbaijan and Iran, within the Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests ecoregion. It stretches approximately one thousand kilometres along the southern and south-western coast of the Caspian Sea and covers around 7% of the remaining Hyrcanian forests in Iran.

The property is a serial site with 17 component parts shared across three Provinces (Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan) in Iran and across two Districts (Lenkoran and Astara) in Azerbaijan and represents examples of the various stages and features of Hyrcanian forest ecosystems. Most of the ecological characteristics of the Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests are represented in the property. A considerable part of the property is in inaccessible steep terrain. The property contains exceptional and ancient broad-leaved forests which were formerly much more extensive however, retreated during periods of glaciation and later expanded under milder climatic conditions. Due to this isolation, the property hosts many relict, endangered, and regionally and locally endemic species of flora, contributing to the high ecological value of the property and the Hyrcanian region in general.

Criterion (ix): The property represents a remarkable series of sites conserving the natural forest ecosystems of the Hyrcanian region. Its component parts contain exceptional broad-leaved forests with a history dating back 25 – 50 million years ago, when such forests covered most parts of the Northern Temperate region. These huge ancient forest areas retreated during Quaternary glaciations and later, during milder climate periods, expanded again from these refugia. The property covers most environmental features and ecological values of the Hyrcanian region and represents the most important and key environmental processes illustrating the genesis of those forests, including succession, evolution and speciation.

The floristic biodiversity of the Hyrcanian region is remarkable at the global level with over 3,200 vascular plants documented. Due to its isolation, the property hosts many relict, endangered, and regionally and locally endemic plant species, contributing to the ecological significance of the property, and the Hyrcanian region in general. Approximately 280 taxa are endemic and sub-endemic for the Hyrcanian region and about 500 plant species are Iranian endemics.

The ecosystems of the property support populations of many forest birds and mammals of the Hyrcanian region which are significant on national, regional and global scales. To date, 180 species of birds typical of broad-leaved temperate forests have been recorded in the Hyrcanian region including Steppe Eagle, European Turtle Dove, Eastern Imperial Eagle, European Roller, Semicollared Flycatcher and Caspian Tit. Some 58 mammal species have been recorded across the region, including the iconic Persian Leopard and the threatened Wild Goat.

Read more on Unesco website:
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1584/