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Eco-Tourists Protect Nature on the Absheron Penninsula

 

This information has been adapted and translated from theCENN  bulletin of ecological news.  

 

Young activists from the nongovernmental organization Piligrim, together with the Mountain Sports Club, and with 

support from the UN Volunteers Program, organized a campaign to protect the unique natural and historical 

monuments of the Absheron peninsula.  Their efforts focused on the northern coastal areas around Dubendi and 

Nardaran.  The project took place between July-  December   2000.  

 

The project aimed to call attention to the pollution caused by the dumping of industrial waste from the oil industry and 

other dumping near the port and railroad terminal of Dubendi.  This area is of both environmental and historical 

significance to Azerbaijan: in addition to being a picturesque seashore with sandy beaches, this area contains caves 

where our ancestors lived in the Neolithic period. 

 

The surrounding landscape has been disfigured and deformed by the transportation of oil by sea and by the building 

of a railroad terminal. People who come for a break from the hot summer sun have also damaged the caves and 

sandy beaches with their litter. The beautiful beaches have been covered with broken bottles, rusted metal, waste 

and toxic materials.  Countless birds and other wildlife of the region have died.  Such conditions pose a serious 

threat to the health of the people and wildlife of the area. 

 

 

The Nardaran coast has much in common with the Dubendi coast.  It is a beautiful place that attracts mountain 

climbers, rock climbers and tourists.  Unfortunately, the owners of dachas in the area had covered the nineteenth 

century Amburan Lighthouse with garbage, ruining a beautiful area where tourists could meet. 

 

Absheron was also the land of our ancestors.  Evidence of human habitation on the Absheron peninsula dates back 

35,000-45,000 years.  Such traces have been found on the Dubendi coast and Nardaran rocks.  Archeologists have 

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uncovered Bronze and Iron Age structures including old caravansarays (inns) and ovdans (underground storehouses 

for drinking water).  The petroglyphs on the rocks of the Dubendi coast are the most extensive and well preserved in 

Azerbaijan after those of Gobustan.   

 

Such unique monuments of nature and history must be saved today.  Otherwise, it will be too late. 

 

In order to protect this region, members of the organizations Pilgrim and Mountain Sport Club have cleaned the 

area's beaches and historical monuments.  In preparation for their work, all of the participating members received 

“eco-training” through the School of Wild Nature.  They have created places for people to relax and made signs 

urging people to protect the environment of the Absheron Peninsula.  All the waste and garbage has been removed.  

It should be noted that a cleaner environment was not the only result of this project.  Our thirty young volunteers from 

Baku, and an equal number of people from these village areas, gained extensive knowledge of the natural and 

archaeological monuments of the Absheron Peninsula.  

 

By working on this project, all of the participants gained a degree of personal satisfaction by participating in a socially 

useful activity, while at the same time they learned much about their history and increased their range of interests.  

Activities such as this one allow us to achieve more effective results as we attempt to protect unique natural and 

historical areas.