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Environment News Service
June 7 2005
Armenian Government Road Would Slash Rare Nature Reserve
WATERTOWN, Massachusetts, June 7, 2005 (ENS) - The Armenian
government has announced plans to build a new highway that bisects
one of only three pristine forest reserves in the country. The plan
alarms a Watertown based conservation organization that has planted
hundreds of thousands of trees in Armenia since 1994.
The Armenia Tree Project warns that the government's chosen route for
the highway would mean cutting at least 14,000 old growth trees and
90,000 younger ones.
In Armenia these numbers are significant, the group says, because
while at least 40 percent of the country was once covered with trees,
current estimates place forest cover at around eight percent. At
current rates of cutting, "the last of the forests could be gone in
as little as 20 years," the Armenia Tree Project predicts.
The new highway is planned to take a route across the Mtnadzor Forest
that covers a third of the Shikahogh reserve in southern Armenia.
Established in 1958, the reserve is inhabited by rare and endangered
plants and animals.
Southern Armenia's Shikahogh reserve is the planned site of a new
highway. (Photo courtesy World Wildlife Fund Armenia)
Today, as many as 12 leopards live in the Shikahogh reserve, and the
Armenia Tree Project says their habitats would be disturbed by the
road's construction and the resulting traffic pollution.
The organization's founder Carolyn Mugar sent a letter on May 25 to
Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan, with copeis to the minister of nature protection, the
minister of transportation, and other top officials.
`The Shikahogh forest reserve provides unique habitats for many rare
and endangered plants and animals whose survival depends upon the
government's responsible stewardship," wrote Mugar. "We call on you
to protect this reserve for the sake of future generations of
Armenians and the world's ecosystem.'
"Any gains that may be realized by building this road through the
preserve will be far outweighed by the long-term environmental and
political damage that Armenia will suffer," Mugar wrote.
A coalition of organizations and individuals, including the Armenia
Tree Project, Armenian Forests NGO, the World Wildlife Fund, and the
Armenian Assembly of America have been working together to identify
viable alternatives to the proposed route which would do less
environmental damage.
They are asking that the government halt the plan to begin immediate
construction until public hearings can be held.
The Armenian government has cited `strategic' reasons for routing the
highway through the reserve, but the plan has not only aroused
resistance among conservationists, it has caused a split in the
government.
Formerly forested, this area of Armenia is now barren. (Photo
courtesy Armenia Tree Project)
To date, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Defense
have stated their intention to move forward with construction plans
and ignore any proposed alternatives.
In response, Minister of Nature Protection Vardan Ayvazyan has
announced his intention to resign if the road is constructed through
the Shikahogh reserve.
This stated determination to ignore alternative routes has led
conservationists to question the true motivation for the government's
plan, given the financial value of the oak trees from the old growth
forest that will be destroyed to make way for the road.
The Armenia Tree Project points out that running the highway through
the reserve "would violate numerous national laws and internationally
signed treatises to protect such nature preserves, which are widely
regarded as part of a national heritage."
`The construction of the proposed road through the preserve will
introduce pollution from passing vehicles into this almost pristine
forest, destroy the habitat for rare wildlife and migratory paths,
and attract illegal logging, depriving future generations of
Armenians of an irreplaceable resource," wrote Mugar to the Armenian
officials.
"The encroachment by illegal loggers has already destroyed much of
Armenia's forests during the past decade,' Mugar wrote in her letter,
which was also sent to government officials by Armenian Assembly of
America Chairman Hirair Hovnanian.
The Armenia Tree Project (ATP) says currently 70 percent timber cut
in Armenia is used for heating because alternate fuel sources are not
available. In cities such as Yerevan, residents desperate for fuel
cut at least two million trees during the energy crisis of the early
1990s.
"Once beautiful parks have now turned to ecological graveyards devoid
of greenery. Today, they collect debris, invite vandalism, are
aesthetically offensive, and are vulnerable to erosion and further
environmental degradation. If this trend continues, Armenia will turn
into a desert wasteland in an estimated 20 years," the organization
says.
To combat the deforestation, the Armenia Tree Project is producing
40,000 indigenous trees each year on formerly barren plots of land in
refugee villages, where two of their tree nurseries are located, and
planting trees throughout urban communities.
In Aygut, where Armenia Tree Project has established backyard tree
nurseries with local residents, ATP Founder Carolyn Mugar urged
Armenians everywhere to participate in the organization's Trees of
Hope campaign in observance of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide. April 11, 2005. (Photo courtesy ATP)
A rural tree planting program has been launched in Aygut, near Lake
Sevan. Armenia Tree Project Executive Director Jeff Masarjian says
that deforestation there has reached crisis proportions and villagers
are struggling to fend off poverty.
The forests of the area's Getik River Valley shelter the Lake Sevan
watershed, which although deforested, can still be salvaged, the
Armenia Tree Project believes.
Masarjian says the organization works by partnering with communities
like Aygut to replant the native forests.
In Aygut, families will earn a living by planting and nurturing tree
seedlings in a program intended to gradually transform the entire
community into a forest nursery.
Already, villagers have gathered over 80,000 seeds of 12 local tree
species, including wild apple, wild pear, walnut, linden, hazelnut,
and cherry, to be sprouted in 18 forestry nurseries. The resulting
20,000 seedlings will be planted in Aygut's declining forests this
fall.
Find out more online at: www.armeniatree.org
The Armenian Ministry of Nature Protection is found at: www.mnpiac.am
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2005/2005-06-07-03.asp
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
June 7 2005
Armenian Government Road Would Slash Rare Nature Reserve
WATERTOWN, Massachusetts, June 7, 2005 (ENS) - The Armenian
government has announced plans to build a new highway that bisects
one of only three pristine forest reserves in the country. The plan
alarms a Watertown based conservation organization that has planted
hundreds of thousands of trees in Armenia since 1994.
The Armenia Tree Project warns that the government's chosen route for
the highway would mean cutting at least 14,000 old growth trees and
90,000 younger ones.
In Armenia these numbers are significant, the group says, because
while at least 40 percent of the country was once covered with trees,
current estimates place forest cover at around eight percent. At
current rates of cutting, "the last of the forests could be gone in
as little as 20 years," the Armenia Tree Project predicts.
The new highway is planned to take a route across the Mtnadzor Forest
that covers a third of the Shikahogh reserve in southern Armenia.
Established in 1958, the reserve is inhabited by rare and endangered
plants and animals.
Southern Armenia's Shikahogh reserve is the planned site of a new
highway. (Photo courtesy World Wildlife Fund Armenia)
Today, as many as 12 leopards live in the Shikahogh reserve, and the
Armenia Tree Project says their habitats would be disturbed by the
road's construction and the resulting traffic pollution.
The organization's founder Carolyn Mugar sent a letter on May 25 to
Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan, with copeis to the minister of nature protection, the
minister of transportation, and other top officials.
`The Shikahogh forest reserve provides unique habitats for many rare
and endangered plants and animals whose survival depends upon the
government's responsible stewardship," wrote Mugar. "We call on you
to protect this reserve for the sake of future generations of
Armenians and the world's ecosystem.'
"Any gains that may be realized by building this road through the
preserve will be far outweighed by the long-term environmental and
political damage that Armenia will suffer," Mugar wrote.
A coalition of organizations and individuals, including the Armenia
Tree Project, Armenian Forests NGO, the World Wildlife Fund, and the
Armenian Assembly of America have been working together to identify
viable alternatives to the proposed route which would do less
environmental damage.
They are asking that the government halt the plan to begin immediate
construction until public hearings can be held.
The Armenian government has cited `strategic' reasons for routing the
highway through the reserve, but the plan has not only aroused
resistance among conservationists, it has caused a split in the
government.
Formerly forested, this area of Armenia is now barren. (Photo
courtesy Armenia Tree Project)
To date, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Defense
have stated their intention to move forward with construction plans
and ignore any proposed alternatives.
In response, Minister of Nature Protection Vardan Ayvazyan has
announced his intention to resign if the road is constructed through
the Shikahogh reserve.
This stated determination to ignore alternative routes has led
conservationists to question the true motivation for the government's
plan, given the financial value of the oak trees from the old growth
forest that will be destroyed to make way for the road.
The Armenia Tree Project points out that running the highway through
the reserve "would violate numerous national laws and internationally
signed treatises to protect such nature preserves, which are widely
regarded as part of a national heritage."
`The construction of the proposed road through the preserve will
introduce pollution from passing vehicles into this almost pristine
forest, destroy the habitat for rare wildlife and migratory paths,
and attract illegal logging, depriving future generations of
Armenians of an irreplaceable resource," wrote Mugar to the Armenian
officials.
"The encroachment by illegal loggers has already destroyed much of
Armenia's forests during the past decade,' Mugar wrote in her letter,
which was also sent to government officials by Armenian Assembly of
America Chairman Hirair Hovnanian.
The Armenia Tree Project (ATP) says currently 70 percent timber cut
in Armenia is used for heating because alternate fuel sources are not
available. In cities such as Yerevan, residents desperate for fuel
cut at least two million trees during the energy crisis of the early
1990s.
"Once beautiful parks have now turned to ecological graveyards devoid
of greenery. Today, they collect debris, invite vandalism, are
aesthetically offensive, and are vulnerable to erosion and further
environmental degradation. If this trend continues, Armenia will turn
into a desert wasteland in an estimated 20 years," the organization
says.
To combat the deforestation, the Armenia Tree Project is producing
40,000 indigenous trees each year on formerly barren plots of land in
refugee villages, where two of their tree nurseries are located, and
planting trees throughout urban communities.
In Aygut, where Armenia Tree Project has established backyard tree
nurseries with local residents, ATP Founder Carolyn Mugar urged
Armenians everywhere to participate in the organization's Trees of
Hope campaign in observance of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide. April 11, 2005. (Photo courtesy ATP)
A rural tree planting program has been launched in Aygut, near Lake
Sevan. Armenia Tree Project Executive Director Jeff Masarjian says
that deforestation there has reached crisis proportions and villagers
are struggling to fend off poverty.
The forests of the area's Getik River Valley shelter the Lake Sevan
watershed, which although deforested, can still be salvaged, the
Armenia Tree Project believes.
Masarjian says the organization works by partnering with communities
like Aygut to replant the native forests.
In Aygut, families will earn a living by planting and nurturing tree
seedlings in a program intended to gradually transform the entire
community into a forest nursery.
Already, villagers have gathered over 80,000 seeds of 12 local tree
species, including wild apple, wild pear, walnut, linden, hazelnut,
and cherry, to be sprouted in 18 forestry nurseries. The resulting
20,000 seedlings will be planted in Aygut's declining forests this
fall.
Find out more online at: www.armeniatree.org
The Armenian Ministry of Nature Protection is found at: www.mnpiac.am
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2005/2005-06-07-03.asp
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress