First photos of WLE 2015

Malam Jabba is home to the only ski resort in Pakistan.The area also contains two Buddhist stupas and six monasteries that are scattered around the resort. The presence of the monuments at such a height indicates that the area has been inhabited for over 2000 years.

Mount Qasioun (transliterated as Jabal Qāsiyūn) is a mountain overlooking the city of Damascus, Syria. It has a range of restaurants, from which the whole city can be viewed. As the city has expanded over the years, some districts have been established on the foot of the mountain. Its highest point is 1,151 metres (3,776 ft).

The mountain has been heavily entrenched with Syrian government forces since the start of the Syrian Civil War.

Russia.

Kolomenskoye  is a former royal estate situated several kilometers to the southeast of the city center of Moscow, Russia, on the ancient road leading to the town of Kolomna (hence the name). The 390 hectare scenic area overlooks the steep banks of the Moskva River. It became a part of Moscow in the 1960s.

Oak-trees grove (one of the oldest oaks in Moscow).

Switzerland.

The National Park of Locarno is situated in the south of Switzerland: exactly where the European and African tectonic plates collide. It is a region of extremes, steep and rugged, with deep canyons, thundering torrents and covered in jungle-like forests. The National Park of Locarno is a joint project of 14 communes and 13 patricians in the region aimed at enhancing and protecting an area of extraordinary beauty and unique, which extends from the Brissago Islands on Lake Maggiore, to the village of Bosco Gurin, the only settlement Valser of Ticino.

Azerbaijan.

Ilisu State Reserve was established on the area of 93 km² (36 sq mi) in 1987 in Qakh Rayon, Azerbaijan. It aims to protect natural complexes of southern slopes of Major Caucasus, to preserve rare and endangered flora and fauna, to restore forests and prevent erosion of soil and flood. The reserve accounts for 500 plant species with nearly 60 species of endemic ones. One can come across such animals as roe deer, wild boar, chamois.

The territory of Ilisu State Reserve was expanded up to 173.816 km² (67.111 sq mi) in March 2003.

Nepal.

Begnas Lake is a freshwater lake in Lekhnath municipality of Kaski district of Nepal located in the south-east of the Pokhara Valley. The lake is the second largest, after Phewa lake, among the eight lakes in Pokhara Valley. Water level in the lake fluctuates seasonally due to rain, and utilization for irrigation. The water level is regulated through a dam constructed in 1988 on the western outlet stream, Khudi Khola.

Poland.

Valley Prądnik in the area of Ojców National Park and lying south of its agricultural areas. Ojców National Park is a national park in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, established in 1956. It takes its name from the village of Ojców, where it also has its headquarters. Chopinvisited Ojców in 1829.

It is Poland’s smallest national park, with an original area of 14.40 square kilometers (5.56 sq mi), since expanded to 21.46 km²(8.29 sq mi). Of this area, 15.28 km² (5.90 sq mi) is forested and 2.51 km² (0.97 sq mi) is strictly protected. The park is approximately 16 kilometers (10 mi) north of Kraków, in the Jurassic Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.

Spain.

Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park is an IUCN Category II National Park situated in the Pyrenees of Huesca province,Aragon, Spain. There has been a National Park in the Ordesa Valley since 1918. Its protected area was enlarged in 1982 to cover the whole region amounting to 156.08 km².

It has been included since 1997 by UNESCO in the Biosphere Reserve of Ordesa-Viñamala. In the same year it was included in the cross-border Pyrénées – Mont Perdu World Heritage Site.

Macedonia.

Lake Ohrid straddles the mountainous border between southwestern Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe’s deepest and oldest lakes, preserving a unique aquatic ecosystem that is of worldwide importance, with more than 200 endemic species.The importance of the lake was further emphasized when it was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1979 and when, in 2010, NASA decided to name one of Titan’s lakes after Lake Ohrid. In 2014, the Ohrid-Prespa Transboundary Reserve between Albania and Macedonia was added to UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves.^[3] The towns situated at the lakeside are Pogradec in Albania, along with Ohrid and Struga in Macedonia. The lake is otherwise densely surrounded by settlements in the form of villages and resorts – in both basin countries.

Brasil.

Serra dos Órgãos is a mountain range in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which was turned into a national park in 1939. It is located about a one-hour drive from the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The Serra dos Órgãos National Park was created in 1939 as the third national park in Brazil. The objective was to protect the native forest on the hillsides and the fresh water springs abundant in the region. When created the park occupied land previously controlled by four municipalities: Petrópolis, Teresópolis, Guapimirim and Magé.

Tunisia.

Djebel Zaghouan is a mountain and the highest point in Eastern Tunisia at 1,295 m. The mountain is located in an area of National Park.The town of Zaghouan is located below on its northern slope. The mountain is the site of a Roman temple known as the Temple de Eaux (Temple of Water) which marks the site of an aqueduct which used to take water to the city of Carthage over 100 km away.

France.

Gouffre de l’Œil Doux is a cenote located in the municipality of Fleury in the massive Clape. It consists of high walls (40 m) limestone and green dominating the green emerald expanse of water

 All photographs in this post are published by their authors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Click the photos for details.