The Sarazm Important Bird Area (Chinese: 萨拉子目重点鸟区) is a 43 km2 tract of land in south-western Sughd Province, in northwestern Tajikistan, not far from the border with Uzbekistan. It lies on the left bank of the Zeravshan River and overlaps the Zeravshansky Zakaznik (nature reserve).[1]
Description
The Sarazm Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International, encompasses part of the Zeravshan floodplain after the river has left the mountains and flows braided through a wide valley downstream of the city of Panjakent. It contains a range of temporary and permanent islands, many of which are covered with tugay, or flood-plain forest – comprising the only such ecosystem in northern Tajikistan. The soil is loamy-sandy, overgrown in moist areas with herbs, forming water meadows as well as dense thickets of trees and shrubs.[1]
