The Korea National Arboretum has published an illustrated plant book, "Flora of the Western Tien Shan: The Chimgan Mountains," along with the Uzbekistani Institute of the Gene Pool of Plants and Animals. The book is published in Korean, English, Russian and Uzbek.



Central Asia is a natural habitat with great economic value. It must be preserved because there are many plants that live there in a range of environments, like the Pamir Plateau, the Tien Shan Mountains and near the Aral Sea. However, climate change threatens the region's biological diversity. Also, there is a shortage of plant preservation professionals.

The Korea National Arboretum has been carrying out its "Central Asia Green Road Project" since 2015 in order to help preserve biological diversity across Central Asia. Target nations of this project are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. The arboretum carries out research, preservation programs and encourages the sustainable use of biological diversity.




This plant book is the first result of the arboretum's project, and contains information about 290 kinds of plants from the Tien Shan Mountains. An electronic version of the book can be read at the Korea National Arboretum's homepage (www.kna.go.kr).


By Gu Kyeong-ah
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Korea National Arboretum
joamanner@korea.kr