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ARMENIA: WHERE DEFORESTATION IS A HIDDEN KILLER
Marianna Grigoryan and Anahit Hayrapetyan
EurasiaNet.org
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64365
Oct 24 2011
Ask locals, and they'll tell you that a 19th century mountaintop
church in the southeastern region of Syunik has a dangerous allure,
somewhat like the Sirens of Greek mythology.
"God forbid you go to that place," one villager told a traveler
who wished to visit the Church of the Mother of God. The villager
then proceeded to tell the tale of a man whose body was found on
the mountainside 40 meters below the church, several days after he
climbed to the site. "The land is sliding."
Landslides are not an uncommon phenomenon in mountainous Armenia. What
is unusual, according to geologists and environmentalists, is
the government's inattention to landslide prevention. Each year,
landslides strike - 10 so far this year; as many as 19 last year -
yet the Armenian government has no budget for landslide prevention
and early warning. State funding exists only for clean-ups.
"It's over 20 years since any anti-landslide measures have been taken
in Armenia," asserted geologist Ruben Yadoyan, a landslide specialist
and laboratory chief for the National Academy of Sciences' Geology
Institute. He claims that preventative measures are "of no importance"
to the government. "This means that a tragedy can happen again at
any moment," Yadoyan said.
The latest took place on October 2, when a massive landslide in the
northern region of Tavush killed at least five people and destroyed
35 cars, cutting off traffic to neighboring Georgia. Officially, the
tragedy was attributed to heavy rainfall. But recently some officials
acknowledged that deforestation played a role.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations "announced that the water had
caused a landslip and a landslide, but water itself cannot cause a
landslide unless the area is deforested," said Vrezh Gabrielian, deputy
director of the Ministry of Emergency Situations' Rescue Service.
A representative of the Ministry of Agriculture's Hayantar agency,
which manages Armenia's forests, told EurasiaNet.org that it has no
archival data on deforestation in specific areas. But the official
noted that Tavush, Syunik and the northern region of Lori have suffered
the most damage from deforestation.
Since the early 1990s, when the economic and energy crisis that
followed the collapse of the Soviet Union prompted Armenians to start
chopping down trees for firewood, deforestation has threatened the
country's ecosystem. The government reports that forests currently
account for 11.2 percent of Armenia's territory of more than 3.7
million hectares. But some environmental groups contend that woodlands
make up as little as 6 percent of the total land area.
Mining - the major source of Armenia's export revenue - exacerbates
the problem, environmentalists say. "Armenia is a mountainous country
and has a huge number of landslide zones," commented Greens Union
of Armenia Chairperson Hakob Sanasarian. "And ... when forests are
sacrificed to the mining industry, it is clear that this also creates
perfect conditions for landslides."
Northern Armenia's Teghut reserve, located some 15 kilometers from
the Tavush landslide site, is the most frequently cited example
of this problem. In 2007, the government approved the opening of a
copper-molybdenum mine in a reserve site that is largely made up of
woodlands. Tree cutting began this year.
According to official estimates, some 233 communities today are
situated in active landslide zones; the "most active" zones endanger
131 villages and hamlets. Aside from Tavush and Syunik, the most
active landslide zones are found in the northern region of Shirak,
the central regions of Kotayk and Ararat and the southern region of
Vayots Dzor regions.
Another recent, deadly landslide occurred in early 2010 in the
village of Haghartsin in the Tavush Region. The root cause of that
tragedy was the construction of a railway during the Soviet era, in
which Communist authorities authorized the blasting away of part of
a hillside to make way for the tracks. The February 2010 landslide
subsequently caused the river to change course, resulting in a flash
flood that destroyed homes and killed livestock. One local resident
died from a heart attack related to the incident.
Geologist Yadoyan argues that more could be done to avoid landslides
and the damage that they cause; detailed mapping to avoid the
construction of roads in potential landslide areas, as well as
techniques such as soil transfer, reduction of surface water and
re-forestation are among the recommendations, depending on the
location-specific needs.
Without attention to "complex measures" and monitoring aimed at
landslide prevention, the current clean-ups "will gradually make the
situation even more complicated," he asserted.
Immediate clean-up and rescue operations immediately after a landslide
are prohibited; in the Tavush case, work began the following day. The
government allocated some 65 million drams (about $172,103) to the job,
out of which 5 million drams ($13,238) was given to the families of
the landslide's five casualties.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations' Gabrielian concedes that more
could be done to prevent landslides, but adds that the country lacks
the money to reduce the risks. "Financial investment in preventative
measures requires huge resources," Gabrielian said. At the same time,
he noted that the government this year will allocate the money to
conduct "work" in landslide areas.
"Specialists say they should either not start work [on preventative
measures] at all, or once they start, the work should be finished,"
said Gabrielian. "Otherwise, if they just start and quit, the
landslides will get active, and the consequences will be bad."
Meanwhile, residents in the Tavush village of Getahovit are keeping
close watch on the ground for signs of landslides to come. With time,
claimed villager Arman Chapukhchian, "the cracks in the earth get
even bigger."
Editor's Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based
in Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am, funded by the Open Society
Assistance Foundation-Armenia. Anahit Hayrapetyan is a freelance
photojournalist also based in Yerevan.
Marianna Grigoryan and Anahit Hayrapetyan
EurasiaNet.org
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64365
Oct 24 2011
Ask locals, and they'll tell you that a 19th century mountaintop
church in the southeastern region of Syunik has a dangerous allure,
somewhat like the Sirens of Greek mythology.
"God forbid you go to that place," one villager told a traveler
who wished to visit the Church of the Mother of God. The villager
then proceeded to tell the tale of a man whose body was found on
the mountainside 40 meters below the church, several days after he
climbed to the site. "The land is sliding."
Landslides are not an uncommon phenomenon in mountainous Armenia. What
is unusual, according to geologists and environmentalists, is
the government's inattention to landslide prevention. Each year,
landslides strike - 10 so far this year; as many as 19 last year -
yet the Armenian government has no budget for landslide prevention
and early warning. State funding exists only for clean-ups.
"It's over 20 years since any anti-landslide measures have been taken
in Armenia," asserted geologist Ruben Yadoyan, a landslide specialist
and laboratory chief for the National Academy of Sciences' Geology
Institute. He claims that preventative measures are "of no importance"
to the government. "This means that a tragedy can happen again at
any moment," Yadoyan said.
The latest took place on October 2, when a massive landslide in the
northern region of Tavush killed at least five people and destroyed
35 cars, cutting off traffic to neighboring Georgia. Officially, the
tragedy was attributed to heavy rainfall. But recently some officials
acknowledged that deforestation played a role.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations "announced that the water had
caused a landslip and a landslide, but water itself cannot cause a
landslide unless the area is deforested," said Vrezh Gabrielian, deputy
director of the Ministry of Emergency Situations' Rescue Service.
A representative of the Ministry of Agriculture's Hayantar agency,
which manages Armenia's forests, told EurasiaNet.org that it has no
archival data on deforestation in specific areas. But the official
noted that Tavush, Syunik and the northern region of Lori have suffered
the most damage from deforestation.
Since the early 1990s, when the economic and energy crisis that
followed the collapse of the Soviet Union prompted Armenians to start
chopping down trees for firewood, deforestation has threatened the
country's ecosystem. The government reports that forests currently
account for 11.2 percent of Armenia's territory of more than 3.7
million hectares. But some environmental groups contend that woodlands
make up as little as 6 percent of the total land area.
Mining - the major source of Armenia's export revenue - exacerbates
the problem, environmentalists say. "Armenia is a mountainous country
and has a huge number of landslide zones," commented Greens Union
of Armenia Chairperson Hakob Sanasarian. "And ... when forests are
sacrificed to the mining industry, it is clear that this also creates
perfect conditions for landslides."
Northern Armenia's Teghut reserve, located some 15 kilometers from
the Tavush landslide site, is the most frequently cited example
of this problem. In 2007, the government approved the opening of a
copper-molybdenum mine in a reserve site that is largely made up of
woodlands. Tree cutting began this year.
According to official estimates, some 233 communities today are
situated in active landslide zones; the "most active" zones endanger
131 villages and hamlets. Aside from Tavush and Syunik, the most
active landslide zones are found in the northern region of Shirak,
the central regions of Kotayk and Ararat and the southern region of
Vayots Dzor regions.
Another recent, deadly landslide occurred in early 2010 in the
village of Haghartsin in the Tavush Region. The root cause of that
tragedy was the construction of a railway during the Soviet era, in
which Communist authorities authorized the blasting away of part of
a hillside to make way for the tracks. The February 2010 landslide
subsequently caused the river to change course, resulting in a flash
flood that destroyed homes and killed livestock. One local resident
died from a heart attack related to the incident.
Geologist Yadoyan argues that more could be done to avoid landslides
and the damage that they cause; detailed mapping to avoid the
construction of roads in potential landslide areas, as well as
techniques such as soil transfer, reduction of surface water and
re-forestation are among the recommendations, depending on the
location-specific needs.
Without attention to "complex measures" and monitoring aimed at
landslide prevention, the current clean-ups "will gradually make the
situation even more complicated," he asserted.
Immediate clean-up and rescue operations immediately after a landslide
are prohibited; in the Tavush case, work began the following day. The
government allocated some 65 million drams (about $172,103) to the job,
out of which 5 million drams ($13,238) was given to the families of
the landslide's five casualties.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations' Gabrielian concedes that more
could be done to prevent landslides, but adds that the country lacks
the money to reduce the risks. "Financial investment in preventative
measures requires huge resources," Gabrielian said. At the same time,
he noted that the government this year will allocate the money to
conduct "work" in landslide areas.
"Specialists say they should either not start work [on preventative
measures] at all, or once they start, the work should be finished,"
said Gabrielian. "Otherwise, if they just start and quit, the
landslides will get active, and the consequences will be bad."
Meanwhile, residents in the Tavush village of Getahovit are keeping
close watch on the ground for signs of landslides to come. With time,
claimed villager Arman Chapukhchian, "the cracks in the earth get
even bigger."
Editor's Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based
in Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am, funded by the Open Society
Assistance Foundation-Armenia. Anahit Hayrapetyan is a freelance
photojournalist also based in Yerevan.