Tweet
Oneworld.net, 17 June 2005 (Updated)
Last chance for the forests of Armenia
Onnik Krikorian
Government-connected businessmen and state officials engaged in the
illegal export of timber from Armenia are mostly to blame for the former
Soviet republic~Rs dwindling number of forests. Whereas 11 per cent of
the republic was covered by forests in 1991, the figure stands at below
8 per cent today. Environmentalists warn that unless current trends are
reversed, Armenia will be forestless by 2024.
In recent weeks, such concerns have have been reinforced by plans to
build a highway through the Shikahogh Nature Reserve situated in the
southern-most Siunik region of the republic. Tens of thousands of trees
in the reserve will be felled in government plans to build a second,
90-kilometer road leading to the Iranian border. Shikahogh is habitat
for over 1000 species of plants and fauna such as leopards.
Environmental activists and NGOs in Armenia are up in arms against this
latest threat especially as work on the $16 million project has already
begun.
Blockaded by Turkey and Azerbaijan as a result of the frozen conflict
with the latter over the mainly Armenian-inhabited territory of Nagorno
Karabagh, Armenia relies on its two other neighbors, Georgia and Iran
for the bulk of its import and export. Approximately ten per cent of all
imports into Armenia come from the Islamic Republic via mountainous
terrain that often makes the journey dangerous during the winter.
The government argues that it is for this reason that a new road should
be constructed even though the proposed route will not only pass through
the Nature Reserve but also the centuries-old Mtnadzor forest.
Environmentalists say that the new road offers no advantage over that
which already exists and accuse the government of having other motives
for the project. Because the Shikahogh reserve and forest are currently
protected under national law, they say that the new highway is simply a
way to "legitimize" logging and hunting in the area.
According to the Armenia Now online publication, the value of the 14,000
mature and 90,000 younger trees that stand in the path of bulldozers is
estimated at approximately $1 million.
"If they refuse to accept any of the proposed alternatives then the road
is not the real issue," said Karen Manvelyan, National Director of the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Armenia in an interview with Hetq Online.
"The plan for a ~Qstrategic' road is simply to get at the forest and the
wood. Governmental officials say that the highway has strategic
importance but none can explain why they have chosen this way through
the reserve."
If the road passes through the reserve, the government will violate
several of Armenia~Rs international commitments as signatories to the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change, UN Convention on Biodiversity,
UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the European Convention on
Landscape," says Jeffrey Tufenkian, President of the Armenian Forests NGO.
"It also breaks various national laws and contradicts many decrees by
the Armenian Government such as the State Strategy and National Action
Plan for Development of Specially Protected Natural Areas," he adds.
"Construction will also infringe upon the Law on Environmental Impact
Expertise as there was no environmental impact assessment conducted for
the concept of passage of the road through the natural reserve."
In fact, the Environmental Impact Assessment that the government had to
undertake only occurred after construction started in May. In an
interview with Radio Free Europe / Radio Europe at the beginning of
June, however, the Armenian Transport and Communications Minister,
Andranik Manukyan, added insult to injury by saying that the road would
be constructed regardless of what the assessment concluded.
Amalia Kostanyan, Chairperson of the Armenian branch of Transparency
International, the world~Rs leading anti-corruption watchdog, is not
impressed.
"The plan was examined by the State Non-Commercial Organization on
Environmental Expertise," says Kostanyan, "The law says that the
construction of any project can only start after the positive conclusion
of an impact assessment. In the case of this road, however, no findings
have been released ~V neither positive nor negative ~V and in fact, the
assessment was returned by the government with the request that it be
revised."
Environmentalists are equally unimpressed and are particularly concerned
by what they see as a cynical ploy to legalize construction on the
reserve by
Moreover, the new road would also allow easy access to loggers and poachers
changing the status of Shikahogh from a Nature Reserve to that of a
National Park. Such a dangerous precedent would immediately open it up
to poachers and other commercial activities, they argue.
Meanwhile, public outcry has at least united NGOs in Armenia. Dozens of
NGOs working within a coalition to save the nature reserve say that an
alternate route should be taken and, already, extensive media coverage
has forced the government to suspend construction for 15 days. However,
while construction in the reserve has not yet started, bulldozers are
still clearing the way for the access road.
As a result, environmentalists are convinced that the Armenian
government has no intention to bow to public pressure to adhere to its
own national law and international commitments.
"They seem to be proceeding in a way that indicates they have already
made their decision regardless of what the public and NGOs have to say,"
says Tufenkian. The American environmental activist of Armenian descent
is also part of the coalition to save Shikahogh. A public hearing
scheduled to be held in Yerevan on 17 June might well represent the last
stand of environmentalists to prevent further deforestation in Armenia.
"The coalition of organizations working to save the Shikahogh Reserve
has taken it upon itself to organize this public forum and has had to
invite the relevant government ministries," says Tufenkian. "Hopefully
they will yield to public pressure and protect the reserve by choosing
another route for the highway. However, it is possible that even if the
government attends the public hearings, they will be doing so
insincerely and simply as a matter of formality."
Concern over the fate of Shikahogh and Mtnadzor has also spread far
beyond the boundaries of the former Soviet republic. In the influential
Armenian Diaspora, Carolyn Mugar, founder of the Armenian Tree Project
and Executive Director of the US Farm Aid organization, has already
started a letter writing campaign to lobby the Armenian Embassy in
Washington.
Since then, the Minister for Transport and Communication, Andranik
Manukian, has told the ArmInfo news agency that the government would now
look at alternate routes and requested that environmentalists put in as
much energy into securing extra finance for the project as they have in
protesting. Paradoxically, he also declared that this "change of heart"
had nothing to do with the campaign by environmentalists to save Shikahogh.
But given earlier broken promises that construction would be suspended,
environmentalists are not taking the government at their word just yet.
"There is not a single official decision and we do not know how the road
will be constructed," says Nazeli Vardanian, Director of the Armenian
Forests NGO. "So, non-governmental organizations must continue the
struggle."
---
http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/113535/1/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Last chance for the forests of Armenia
Onnik Krikorian
Government-connected businessmen and state officials engaged in the
illegal export of timber from Armenia are mostly to blame for the former
Soviet republic~Rs dwindling number of forests. Whereas 11 per cent of
the republic was covered by forests in 1991, the figure stands at below
8 per cent today. Environmentalists warn that unless current trends are
reversed, Armenia will be forestless by 2024.
In recent weeks, such concerns have have been reinforced by plans to
build a highway through the Shikahogh Nature Reserve situated in the
southern-most Siunik region of the republic. Tens of thousands of trees
in the reserve will be felled in government plans to build a second,
90-kilometer road leading to the Iranian border. Shikahogh is habitat
for over 1000 species of plants and fauna such as leopards.
Environmental activists and NGOs in Armenia are up in arms against this
latest threat especially as work on the $16 million project has already
begun.
Blockaded by Turkey and Azerbaijan as a result of the frozen conflict
with the latter over the mainly Armenian-inhabited territory of Nagorno
Karabagh, Armenia relies on its two other neighbors, Georgia and Iran
for the bulk of its import and export. Approximately ten per cent of all
imports into Armenia come from the Islamic Republic via mountainous
terrain that often makes the journey dangerous during the winter.
The government argues that it is for this reason that a new road should
be constructed even though the proposed route will not only pass through
the Nature Reserve but also the centuries-old Mtnadzor forest.
Environmentalists say that the new road offers no advantage over that
which already exists and accuse the government of having other motives
for the project. Because the Shikahogh reserve and forest are currently
protected under national law, they say that the new highway is simply a
way to "legitimize" logging and hunting in the area.
According to the Armenia Now online publication, the value of the 14,000
mature and 90,000 younger trees that stand in the path of bulldozers is
estimated at approximately $1 million.
"If they refuse to accept any of the proposed alternatives then the road
is not the real issue," said Karen Manvelyan, National Director of the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Armenia in an interview with Hetq Online.
"The plan for a ~Qstrategic' road is simply to get at the forest and the
wood. Governmental officials say that the highway has strategic
importance but none can explain why they have chosen this way through
the reserve."
If the road passes through the reserve, the government will violate
several of Armenia~Rs international commitments as signatories to the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change, UN Convention on Biodiversity,
UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the European Convention on
Landscape," says Jeffrey Tufenkian, President of the Armenian Forests NGO.
"It also breaks various national laws and contradicts many decrees by
the Armenian Government such as the State Strategy and National Action
Plan for Development of Specially Protected Natural Areas," he adds.
"Construction will also infringe upon the Law on Environmental Impact
Expertise as there was no environmental impact assessment conducted for
the concept of passage of the road through the natural reserve."
In fact, the Environmental Impact Assessment that the government had to
undertake only occurred after construction started in May. In an
interview with Radio Free Europe / Radio Europe at the beginning of
June, however, the Armenian Transport and Communications Minister,
Andranik Manukyan, added insult to injury by saying that the road would
be constructed regardless of what the assessment concluded.
Amalia Kostanyan, Chairperson of the Armenian branch of Transparency
International, the world~Rs leading anti-corruption watchdog, is not
impressed.
"The plan was examined by the State Non-Commercial Organization on
Environmental Expertise," says Kostanyan, "The law says that the
construction of any project can only start after the positive conclusion
of an impact assessment. In the case of this road, however, no findings
have been released ~V neither positive nor negative ~V and in fact, the
assessment was returned by the government with the request that it be
revised."
Environmentalists are equally unimpressed and are particularly concerned
by what they see as a cynical ploy to legalize construction on the
reserve by
Moreover, the new road would also allow easy access to loggers and poachers
changing the status of Shikahogh from a Nature Reserve to that of a
National Park. Such a dangerous precedent would immediately open it up
to poachers and other commercial activities, they argue.
Meanwhile, public outcry has at least united NGOs in Armenia. Dozens of
NGOs working within a coalition to save the nature reserve say that an
alternate route should be taken and, already, extensive media coverage
has forced the government to suspend construction for 15 days. However,
while construction in the reserve has not yet started, bulldozers are
still clearing the way for the access road.
As a result, environmentalists are convinced that the Armenian
government has no intention to bow to public pressure to adhere to its
own national law and international commitments.
"They seem to be proceeding in a way that indicates they have already
made their decision regardless of what the public and NGOs have to say,"
says Tufenkian. The American environmental activist of Armenian descent
is also part of the coalition to save Shikahogh. A public hearing
scheduled to be held in Yerevan on 17 June might well represent the last
stand of environmentalists to prevent further deforestation in Armenia.
"The coalition of organizations working to save the Shikahogh Reserve
has taken it upon itself to organize this public forum and has had to
invite the relevant government ministries," says Tufenkian. "Hopefully
they will yield to public pressure and protect the reserve by choosing
another route for the highway. However, it is possible that even if the
government attends the public hearings, they will be doing so
insincerely and simply as a matter of formality."
Concern over the fate of Shikahogh and Mtnadzor has also spread far
beyond the boundaries of the former Soviet republic. In the influential
Armenian Diaspora, Carolyn Mugar, founder of the Armenian Tree Project
and Executive Director of the US Farm Aid organization, has already
started a letter writing campaign to lobby the Armenian Embassy in
Washington.
Since then, the Minister for Transport and Communication, Andranik
Manukian, has told the ArmInfo news agency that the government would now
look at alternate routes and requested that environmentalists put in as
much energy into securing extra finance for the project as they have in
protesting. Paradoxically, he also declared that this "change of heart"
had nothing to do with the campaign by environmentalists to save Shikahogh.
But given earlier broken promises that construction would be suspended,
environmentalists are not taking the government at their word just yet.
"There is not a single official decision and we do not know how the road
will be constructed," says Nazeli Vardanian, Director of the Armenian
Forests NGO. "So, non-governmental organizations must continue the
struggle."
---
http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/113535/1/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress