Trespassers on Their Land: Nomads Displaced by Afghanistan’s Conservation Zones

Trespassers on Their Land: Nomads Displaced by Afghanistan’s Conservation Zones

For centuries, the Kuchis – Afghanistan’s nomadic pastoralists – have followed their ancestors’ time-worn migratory routes across mountains, deserts and valleys, moving with the seasons and grazing their herds. But now, many Kuchi families are finding those routes increasingly blocked – not by natural obstacles, but by expanding conservation zones and new Taliban regime-enforced restrictions. “They told us this land is now protected,” said Gul R…