From the North and the West sandy habitats clearly limited by the village of Goravan with its cemetery, fields, fruit and vegetable plantations. On the South and East Sandy paths create a complex mosaic with dry tan limestone ridges, and the boundary of the reservation in these directions is not defined. The original governmental decision of 1959, and a number of publications cited that document state that the Goravan State Nature Reservation covers 200 ha of sandy desert adjacent to the Goravan village at 900–950 m above sea level. However, the most recent field surveys and analysis of LandSat satellite images demonstrate existence of more than 10 patches of sandy semi-desert with total area of only 175 hectares and situated between 894 and 1060 m above sea level (Tadevosyan, 2005, 2006a,b) (see map at ). Trials to obtain an original map showing boundaries of the reservation failed. Therefore, it is still unknown whether this discrepancy a result of a different delineation of the boundaries of the reservation in 1959, an approximation or uncertain measurements used in the governmental decision of 1959, historical changes in land use, or from the one or more factors acting together. Conservation of sandy habitats has been formulated a primary goal of the reservation in 1959. However field work done in 1998-2005 show that surrounding rocklands have their own conservation value, which somewhat exceeds that of sandy habitats. Rocky slopes support a number of critical wildlife species which are absent form the sandy habitats, or disappeared from sandy habitats but preserved in rocklands. Either way there is a need in re-determination of the boundaries of the reservation. Climate The Goravan State Nature Reservation is situated within the arid climate zone. It is considered as a desert ecosystem with cold winters. Average annual precipitation is 200–300 mm; average annual air temperature is +12 °C, Absolute minimum is -25 °C, absolute maximum is 42 °C. The duration of freeze free period is approximately 200–220 days. Winter starts in the second decade of November and end in the first decade of March. Depth of the snow cower 100–280 mm. Average temperature in January is - 4 °C. Spring is pretty short (from March to the 2nd decade of May) and dry with cool nights and hot days. An average monthly precipitation in the spring is about 10–15 mm, and an average air temperature is 26 °C. Summer is dry