The mission was commissioned by the United National Environmental Programme (UNEP), as one of five missions visiting a selection of environmentally important locations in Afghanistan with purpose of making an initial post-conflict environmental assessment. Emphasis was placed on visiting the Big Pamir because in the late 1970s that section of the Wakhan had been designated as a National Park and an area of special interest and conservation management, due to its unique wildlife, in particular the famous Marco Polo wild sheep (Ovis ammon polii).