Attitude of the Population to the Activities of National Parks: Territorial Aspect (on the Example of a Survey of Residents of the Khorug and Murgab Region)

Abstract

The article describes and interprets the results of a study aimed at studying public opinion about the activities of national parks. The attitude of the local population to the activities of the State Institution “National Park of Tajikistan” was studied. A total of 40 respondents from local residents were surveyed. Fifteen local residents of Khorog, most of them educated people, students of Khorog University and teachers of the Biological Institute of the Pamirs who are familiar with the Tajik National Park in the vicinity have carried out several scientific studies. Twenty-five respondents of the residents of the Murghab district are directly the population who live in the park. They have less education, and they are more prone to a rural lifestyle, and livestock far more knowledgeable about the Tajik National Park than the residents of Khorog. Interviewed residents of the Murgab and Karakuls villages believe that the activities of the Tajik National Park should be more efficient and lay down ways to improve its activities and form a positive image. In their opinion, the employees of the national park should interact more with the local population, take into account their interests, improve information carrying out activities of the national park. Proceeding from the answers of the respondents, we can conclude that the Tajik national park is already widely known to the circle of researchers and scientific applicants as a place or testing ground for research. For the local populations who live in the park, they use it as a place for animal husbandry and natural resources. During the survey, it turned out that the park is currently being used by all means, but not protected in any way. The results of a public opinion poll conducted in the September of 2021 in the settlements of the Khorug town of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast GBAO region, belonging to the central ecological zone of the Pamir natural territory, are presented. The attitude of the local population to the activities of the Tajik Nation Park was studied. Interviewed residents believe that the activities of the Tajik National Park should be more efficient and lay down ways to improve its activities and form a positive image.