Dam of Awe to be Afghan national park | Guardian UK

–excerpt–
A first significant step was taken yesterday when Afghanistan declared that one of its most astonishing natural features will become the country’s first national park – 36 years after a previous attempt to do so was interrupted by political strife and decades of war.

Few people would deny that the crystal-clear lakes in the country’s mountainous centre, which are ringed with pink cliffs, deserve their new designation, which still needs to be ratified by parliament.

Nancy Hatch Dupree, in her classic 1970 guide to Afghanistan, wrote that a full description of such a place would “rob the uninitiated of the wonder and amazement it produces on all who gaze upon it”.

–snip–
Amir Folabi, head of eco-tourism in Bamiyan for the Aga Khan Foundation, said the eco-tourism initiative was not intended to cater for a sudden increase in foreign tourists but to lay the ground work for sustainable tourism in the future.

Article at Guardian. There are few photographs here, and here.
USAID Helps Establish First National Park in Afghanistan – USAID Press Release