ARMENIA-RESTORATION OF DEGRADED FOREST LANDS THROUGH IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY PRACTICES IN CHAMBARAK COMMUNITY OF GEGHARKUNIK REGION PROJECT
TendersInfo - Project Notices
December 5, 2012 Wednesday
LENGTH: 502 words
Start Date: 5/2012
End Date: 5/2013
Grantee: Chambarak Branch of the Council of Mothers and Wives of
Deceased Soldiers
Country: Armenia
Area Of Work: Climate Change Mitigation
Land Degradation
Operational Phase: Phase 5
Grant Amount: US$ 26,607.00
Co-Financing Cash: US$ 21,982.00
Co-Financing in-Kind:US$ 11,227.00
Project Number: ARM/SGP/OP5/CORE/CC/12/08
Status: Currently under execution
Former Krasnoselsk settlement received a status of a town and was
renamed to Chambarak in 1994. Despite the status of a town with a
population of 7,000, the majority of residents still continue their
rural lifestyle, where the main activity is animal husbandry.
Chambarak population primarily consists of socially vulnerable
resettled people, families of deceased soldiers, which is the direct
effect of the 1990s armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
In early 1990s the forests and urban green areas of Armenia suffered a
lot due to the energy crisis caused by the economic and energy
blockade. The same was true for Chambarak forest areas; in order to
survive the cold winters, the population began cutting down the trees
to use them as firewood. As a result of massive loggings in a typical
alpine area of Chambarak, especially on steep forested slopes, the
area faced the problem of landslides as a dominant erosion process.
Therefore, if in 2009 the landslides were in Aygut community, which is
22 km far from Chambarak, in 2011 the landslide prone areas expanded
intensively and reached to Ttajur community which is only 7 km far
from Chambarak. Besides, the landslides are quite active, destroying
and damaging many houses.
Currently, Chambarak and the surrounding areas lack forests. The
clear-cut forest areas are being used for cattle grazing which further
exacerbates land degradation. During USSR era, there was a state
forest planting programme which included Chambarak and neighboring
Getik communities. These activities had started but failed to complete
- instead of 25 ha forests, only 6.4 ha were planted which were later
cut by the neighboring households for firewood. Nowadays, this
mountain slope area is exposed to water and wind erosion. Moreover,
this area is used for cattle grazing and haymaking, which further
deteriorates the problem.
Several problems typical for Chambarak town with its neighboring rural
communities can be grouped into:
The vast majority of agricultural land is either not being used or is
used unsustainably;
The horticultural practices are not in place as the main activity is
cattle breeding;
Application of wrong grazing practices in agricultural lands:
farmlands, pastures, meadows;
Illegal loggings of the neighbouring forests continue.
These problems are caused by poor socio-economic conditions of the
population of the region. Besides, local population lack knowledge on
community forestry and effective use of natural resources, in
particular land and water. Also there is a lack of information about
anti-erosion, anti-
country :Armenia
From: A. Papazian
TendersInfo - Project Notices
December 5, 2012 Wednesday
LENGTH: 502 words
Start Date: 5/2012
End Date: 5/2013
Grantee: Chambarak Branch of the Council of Mothers and Wives of
Deceased Soldiers
Country: Armenia
Area Of Work: Climate Change Mitigation
Land Degradation
Operational Phase: Phase 5
Grant Amount: US$ 26,607.00
Co-Financing Cash: US$ 21,982.00
Co-Financing in-Kind:US$ 11,227.00
Project Number: ARM/SGP/OP5/CORE/CC/12/08
Status: Currently under execution
Former Krasnoselsk settlement received a status of a town and was
renamed to Chambarak in 1994. Despite the status of a town with a
population of 7,000, the majority of residents still continue their
rural lifestyle, where the main activity is animal husbandry.
Chambarak population primarily consists of socially vulnerable
resettled people, families of deceased soldiers, which is the direct
effect of the 1990s armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
In early 1990s the forests and urban green areas of Armenia suffered a
lot due to the energy crisis caused by the economic and energy
blockade. The same was true for Chambarak forest areas; in order to
survive the cold winters, the population began cutting down the trees
to use them as firewood. As a result of massive loggings in a typical
alpine area of Chambarak, especially on steep forested slopes, the
area faced the problem of landslides as a dominant erosion process.
Therefore, if in 2009 the landslides were in Aygut community, which is
22 km far from Chambarak, in 2011 the landslide prone areas expanded
intensively and reached to Ttajur community which is only 7 km far
from Chambarak. Besides, the landslides are quite active, destroying
and damaging many houses.
Currently, Chambarak and the surrounding areas lack forests. The
clear-cut forest areas are being used for cattle grazing which further
exacerbates land degradation. During USSR era, there was a state
forest planting programme which included Chambarak and neighboring
Getik communities. These activities had started but failed to complete
- instead of 25 ha forests, only 6.4 ha were planted which were later
cut by the neighboring households for firewood. Nowadays, this
mountain slope area is exposed to water and wind erosion. Moreover,
this area is used for cattle grazing and haymaking, which further
deteriorates the problem.
Several problems typical for Chambarak town with its neighboring rural
communities can be grouped into:
The vast majority of agricultural land is either not being used or is
used unsustainably;
The horticultural practices are not in place as the main activity is
cattle breeding;
Application of wrong grazing practices in agricultural lands:
farmlands, pastures, meadows;
Illegal loggings of the neighbouring forests continue.
These problems are caused by poor socio-economic conditions of the
population of the region. Besides, local population lack knowledge on
community forestry and effective use of natural resources, in
particular land and water. Also there is a lack of information about
anti-erosion, anti-
country :Armenia
From: A. Papazian