Dashkin

35°29′N 74°46′E Dashkin is a village in Astore, Pakistan. It is 85 km from Gilgit, the capital of Gilgit-Baltistan. It has over 5,000 inhabitants, primarily farmers and herdsmen.

The area is rich in gemstones^{[citation needed]} and is home to a number of rare species of wildlife, such as the Astor markhor (a species of ibex) and the snow leopard.^[1] Dofana Mountain and several forests are nearby.^[2] Hunting permits are available.^[3]

In 2003, the International Union of Nature Conservation launched a pilot to test the concept of community-based forest management in the Dashkin–Mushkin–Tarbuling Forest as part of the Mountain Areas Conservancy Project, an initiative aimed at sustaining biodiversity in Karakoram-Hindu Kush in the western Himalayan mountains in northern Pakistan.^[4][5][6][7]