Lake Nemrut chamois has been extinct. The caldera was registered a natural monument in 2003. The protected area around the crater lake covers . Nemrut Caldera Natural Monument () is protected in the status of a tourist attraction, a protected area of first degree and a wetland. The government of Turkey designated the wetland of the caldera as the 14th Ramsar site of the country on April 17, 2013. It is not permitted to cut reed in the caldera and to fish in the lake, although some livestock grazing takes place around the caldera. A winter sports and ski center was established
Nemrut (volcano) mapped the area, and some, including the British archaeologist Austen Henry Layard, explored the remains of Urartu fortresses around Lake Van. In this period it was suggested that the unusual structure of the watersheds in the region, and the very formation of Lake Van, is related to a large volcanic eruption and the blocking of the water discharge to Murat River by the lava flow. The most detailed work on the subject was the doctoral thesis of the English scientist Felix Oswald, "A Treatise on the Geology of Armenia", which devotes a large part to Nemrut. Oswald made and documented