Qader Taqizadeh told Mehr News local correspondent on Sunday that Sabalan range had been selected one of seven tourism poles of the country, since “it is a bonanza of natural beauties and tourist attractions.”
“The range is habitat of rare flora and fauna, which had been registered by unanimity of environmental observers and experts as a Natural Heritage of the country,” he told Mehr News. On possibility of registration in UNESCO World Heritage Site list, Taqizadeh said that the organization had no limit on the number of natural attractions to be registered in its famous List.
He ruled out the possibility of registering Sabalan range in the UNESCO World Heritage List in a course of 3 years, given that the country had already submitted dossier for Lut Desert in central Iran and Mount Damavand; “in terms of registration, every province seeks registration of its own sites; I believe our province has other natural attractions in the level sufficient to make them registered in the UNESCO List,” he asserted.
Taqizadeh provided an example of such site in Ardebil province; “Shirvan Valley has the capacity to be introduced as a geopark; covering 75 square kilometers of area in the outskirts of the Mount Sabalan 20km southeast of Meshkin Shahr near Lahroud, the Valley is one of 11 wildlife refuges of the country,” he detailed.
Shirvan Valley is a deep and wide gorge with walls of rock; the valley bestows upon the locale a unique sightseeing opportunity; the boulders in the valley walls are strikingly similar to an artwork carved by the hands of a master.
The valley leads in south to Sabalan northern outskirts; in its east to Ardabil-Lahroud road; in west, to Houshang Meidani (local toponym); and in its north it leads to a small village, Qilchilqlou. The natural park is the second geopark in the Middle East and its dossier is in UNESCO for registration. Among the fauna of the valley are wild hog, fox, wolf, ram, Armenian ewe, brown bear, partridge, dove, and some migratory birds.