Vashlovani Strict Nature Reserve, Nature reserve in Dedoplistsqaro Municipality, Georgia

Vashlovani Strict Nature Reserve covers the Pantishara and Vashlovani massifs on the Shiraki plateau in eastern Georgia, 200 km from Tbilisi. Its pale tan and grey hills are cut by vertical grooves, with a flat-topped bluff dropping to the Alazani River and rounded grassy mounds nearby. The reserve spans 9,962 hectares, of which 4,032 are forest.

Authorities established this reserve in 1935 to protect rare plants and wildlife in eastern Georgia. This gave animal populations space to survive and prevented the disappearance of many species in this Caucasus border region.

The name Vashlovani comes from the Georgian word for apple, though the reserve protects a dry pistachio and juniper woodland rather than orchards. Along the Alazani riverbank, a small stand of Turanga poplar survives as the only place in Georgia where this Tertiary relict tree grows.

The administrative center in Dedoplistsqaro is where visitors start and gather information about hiking routes. Day visits are possible, and overnight stays are available for those who want to explore the reserve more thoroughly.

The reserve protects one of Georgia's driest and hottest areas, where five vegetation types — semi-desert, arid open woodland, steppe, deciduous forest and rock xerophytes — change within a short distance and a small elevation range. In Bear Gorge, along the riverbed, stands Georgia's only location of the Tertiary relict Turanga poplar (Populus euphratica).