Khojir National Park Persian: پارک ملی خجیر | |
Iucn Category: | II |
Location: | Iran |
Map: | Iran |
Relief: | 1 |
Coordinates: | 35.41°N 51.41°W |
Area Km2: | 99.71 |
Established: | 1982 |
Governing Body: | Department of the Environment |
Khojir National Park (fa|پارک ملی خجیر) is the oldest protected area in Iran, located on the southern slopes of the Alborz Mountains east of Tehran in Tehran Province. It was established as a wildlife reserve in 1979 and promoted to national park in 1982. It covers 99.71km2 in the Jajrood River basin and ranges in altitude from 1200to.[1]
The area has been a royal game reserve since 1754 and was included in the Jajrood Protected Area in 1979.[1]
The park contains within its confines the village of Khojir, and the "vast" Khojir missile production complex, which is owned by the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group.[2]
Vegetation above 1400m (4,600feet) comprises foremost Persian pistachio tree (Pistacia atlantica), wild almond (Prunus lycioides), interspersed with buckthorn (Rhamnus pallasi), Persian juniper (Juniperus excelsa), wild cherry (Prunus cerasus), and Cotoneaster bushes.[3]
Persian leopard and Asiatic wildcat were recorded during camera-trapping surveys in the protected area since 2005, and a Pallas’s cat for the first time in spring 2008.[4]