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Herding Controversy: Environmentalists warn against leasing grazing

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  • Herding Controversy: Environmentalists warn against leasing grazing

    Herding Controversy: Environmentalists warn against leasing grazing
    land to Iranians

    http://www.armenianow.com/society/43487/syunik_province_mohammad_reisi_ecololur
    SOCIETY | 14.02.13 | 14:51


    NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
    ArmeniaNow

    By GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
    ArmeniaNow reporter

    The possible lease of grazing lands in Armenian's southern Syunik
    province to neighboring Iran continues to be a matter of concern among
    environmentalists and some politicians, who held an act of protest
    Thursday in front of the government building demanding to annul the
    deal.

    The Ecolur environmental NGO posted two documents on its site earlier
    this month, one of which is titled `Memorandum of understanding
    between Iran's Eastern Atrapatakan (Eastern Azerbaijan) province and
    RA Syunik province'. The NGO especially highlights Point 3 in this
    document signed by the governors of Syunik and Eastern Atrapatakan on
    July, 2012: `The Iranian side has expressed its willingness to use the
    pastures and agricultural farming lands.' The second document was
    signed on January 15, 2013, during the Armenian delegation's visit to
    the Eastern Atrapatakan and is called an Agreement. In particular, it
    becomes clear that Iranians want to rent 50,000 hectares of grazing
    land for the minimum of 10 years and pay $25 per hectare of land per
    month. An additional 2,000 ha would be given as settlement area.

    Wednesday Iranian Ambassador in Armenia Mohammad Raeisi told the press
    that no lease agreement has been signed between Syunik and Iran's
    Eastern Azerbaijani provinces concerning the Syunik pastures. He said
    the issue has to be discussed, and should an agreement be signed, the
    parliaments of both countries have to approve it.

    During the Thursday cabinet meeting an act of protest was held in
    front of the government building during which members of Hayazn Union
    (nationalist organization) submitted a letter for the government
    consideration with their strong concerns over the potential deal.

    Hayazn press secretary Armen Hovhannisyan told the press that a deal
    of such scale and content `creates a set of threats in terms of
    national security, demography, environmental protection and other.'

    `From the environmental point of view this deal will have catastrophic
    consequences, because in an area where sheep breeding is the main type
    of livestock husbandry, the grass layer vanishes shortly, recovering
    it takes huge investment, and natural recovery takes 500-1,000 years,'
    says Hovhannisyan adding that the deal will not be of serious economic
    value to compensate for the damage.

    Environmentalist Silva Adamyan says besides the environmental issues
    there are also more disturbing national security concerns.

    `I remember how the Azerbaijanis were quietly taking control of Syunik
    during the soviet years. We have liberated it, and now we want to give
    it to them again? Can't we really understand that it is the same
    Azeris - citizens of Iran - who would be coming back to Syunik, bring
    their families, and so the blood shed for those lands would turn out
    to be for nothing? It appears we are going back to where we started,'
    says Adamyan.

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