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ILLEGAL LOGGING PERVASIVE IN ARMENIA
Hardwood Floors
Aug 8 2012
Armenia, a former republic of the Soviet Union that shares a border
with Turkey, is rife with systemic illegal logging, according to
hetqOnline.com, an investigative reporting outlet.
The offenses alleged by hetqOnline include: ~U Logging without proper
government permits ~U Logging in quantities larger than permitted,
as well as using a single permit multiple times ~U Clear-cutting of
$14,000 worth of trees by the logging firm Karast Ltd. on behalf of
the mining company Teghut Ltd.
~U Bribing local forestry wardens to cut wood for home fuel.
In 2011, during a seminar titled "Stable Forestry Regulation," Armenian
forest warden Gagik Amiryan said, "This is not a forestry business,
but an organized crime," hetqOnline reported.
While not condoned or acknowledged in Armenia, illegal logging is
abetted by authorities that relying on outdated official statistics on
the country's forest resources, the article says. If statisticss from
the Armenian government are to be believed, the number of logged trees
has decreased from more than 32,000 in 2004 to less than 3,000 in 2010,
and forested area covers 11.2 percent of Armenia today. However, 2001
data from NASA show the forested area in Armenia was about 8 percent.
"As long as the government refuses to revise and update its data
about forestry areas," hetqOnline.com wrote, "the lack of solid
information will hinder any real opportunity for accountability in
the timber business."
Posted By HWF Editors At 11:07 AM
http://hardwoodfloorsmag.com/editors/blog/default.aspx?id=1362&t=Illegal-Logging-Pervasive-in-Armenia
Hardwood Floors
Aug 8 2012
Armenia, a former republic of the Soviet Union that shares a border
with Turkey, is rife with systemic illegal logging, according to
hetqOnline.com, an investigative reporting outlet.
The offenses alleged by hetqOnline include: ~U Logging without proper
government permits ~U Logging in quantities larger than permitted,
as well as using a single permit multiple times ~U Clear-cutting of
$14,000 worth of trees by the logging firm Karast Ltd. on behalf of
the mining company Teghut Ltd.
~U Bribing local forestry wardens to cut wood for home fuel.
In 2011, during a seminar titled "Stable Forestry Regulation," Armenian
forest warden Gagik Amiryan said, "This is not a forestry business,
but an organized crime," hetqOnline reported.
While not condoned or acknowledged in Armenia, illegal logging is
abetted by authorities that relying on outdated official statistics on
the country's forest resources, the article says. If statisticss from
the Armenian government are to be believed, the number of logged trees
has decreased from more than 32,000 in 2004 to less than 3,000 in 2010,
and forested area covers 11.2 percent of Armenia today. However, 2001
data from NASA show the forested area in Armenia was about 8 percent.
"As long as the government refuses to revise and update its data
about forestry areas," hetqOnline.com wrote, "the lack of solid
information will hinder any real opportunity for accountability in
the timber business."
Posted By HWF Editors At 11:07 AM
http://hardwoodfloorsmag.com/editors/blog/default.aspx?id=1362&t=Illegal-Logging-Pervasive-in-Armenia