Saghand Desert

The Saghand Desert is just one of several natural attractions and desert areas of Yazd. It lies northwest of the village of Saghand and south of the village of Bayazeh. A range of heights cutting through the middle of the desert divides it into a northern and a southern section. Saghand is Iran's first uranium mine and has the country's highest production capacity. It was discovered in 1985 and its surface is covered with salt flats, edged by a narrow strip of wind-blown clay soil, which doubles the beauty of its desert landscape.

No vegetation is visible inside the Saghand Desert or on its salt flats. Only along the edge of the desert can halophytes and salt-tolerant plants such as ashnan (saltwort) and tamarisk be seen. Outside the desert, on land where soil salinity decreases slightly, the vegetation includes saxaul, milkvetch, wild spinach, Lepidium (pepperweed), kakuti (wild thyme), spurge, cornflower, mountain poppy, asafoetida, wild iris, melica grass, camel thorn, Mir Hasan's hat (Kalah-e Mirhasan), caravan-killer (Karvankosh), ephedra, eskanbil, Zygophyllum (qeych), parand, tamarisk, feverfew, chamomile, wild night-scented stock, bitter plants (talkhak), esfand (Syrian rue), saltwort, kolpureh (germander) and shirinak.

Because of the salty soil, sparse vegetation and lack of freshwater springs, wildlife is not to be expected in the desert itself. On its fringes, however, which are pristine and have no convenient access, there is considerable wildlife. The area's fauna includes wolf, jackal, sand fox, sand cat, red fox, hyena, goitered gazelle (jebeer), houbara bustard, saker falcon, kestrel, chukar partridge, see-see partridge, quail, steppe eagle, Chakh-Laq (hoopoe lark), rock dove, Yakarim, eagle-owl, Indian bee-eater (green bee-eater), pied wagtail, red-tailed wheatear and house sparrow. A wide variety of reptiles can also be seen here, including turtles (order Testudines) as well as agamas, salamanders and skinks. Monitor lizards are another reptile family found in the area.