Yuqori Topalang National Nature Park

Yuqori Topalang National Nature Park was created in March 2022 on the southwestern slopes of the Hisor range in the Sariosiyo district of Surxondaryo region, protecting about 28,000 hectares of mountain terrain climbing from roughly 930 to 3,700 meters. Reaching the park typically means crossing the Topalang reservoir by boat before continuing on foot into the mountains, a combination of water and high peaks that gives it an unusually dramatic setting. Surveys have recorded 46 animal species, twenty of them listed in Uzbekistan's Red Book, alongside some 667 plant species, thirty-six of which are also classified as threatened. Camera traps have photographed snow leopards at altitudes of 3,500 to 4,000 meters in the Tamshush area, and brown bears are reported common enough to be seen almost daily. The area was largely depopulated for security reasons following unrest around 2000, leaving much of its wilderness undisturbed since.