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ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472 USA
Tel: (617) 926-TREE
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.armeniatree.org
PRESS RELEASE
April 23, 2014
ATP Kicks Off 20th Anniversary Year with Tree Plantings All Over Armenia and
Artsakh
YEREVAN--Spring is in the air and Armenia Tree Project has already
beautified 110 communities by planting 22,000 trees through its Community
Tree Planting (CTP) program. The first project took place in Artsakh where
Syrian-Armenian refugees planted ATP fruit trees in Kovsakan. Each year
hundreds of communities are given fruit and decorative trees through the CTP
program. This year, seeking to provide fruit to soldiers in Artsakh, the
program included plantings at six military bases.
A second component of ATP's work is forestry. In a bittersweet launch of
this year's forestry planting, hundreds of volunteers joined forces in
Stepanavan to plant the first seedlings in a memorial forest for Sose
Thomassian and Allen Yekikian. Friends and family of the young couple, whose
lives were tragically cut short last year, joined with volunteers from
Birthright Armenia and Armenian Volunteer Corps to plant the initial 20,000
trees in the forest.
"The planting of these 42,000 trees this spring has brought the total number
of trees planted by ATP to 4,497,869 since 1994," reported ATP Managing
Director Tom Garabedian. Reflecting on the organization's milestone
anniversary this year, he continued: "Throughout our 20 years of planting,
ATP has forged invaluable partnerships with people along with dozens of
organizations, businesses, and institutions to advance projects that
beautify the environment."
Collaboration with KPMG Armenia helped to green the Kentavr hippotherapy
center in Ushi village this season, Byblos Bank facilitated planting at Poqr
Mher military educational center for children, and the Ararat Cultural
Center joined ATP to conduct a planting adjacent to Zvartnots Temple. As in
previous years, ATP provided trees for the Paros Foundation that supports
mothers and children, orphans, and needy families.
Plantings at schools included Yerevan State University and the State
Engineering University of Armenia and in a partnership with the Foundation
for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC), a planting at
their new Eco-Training Center in Urtsador.
In a relaunch of a program designed to restore trees and create new jobs,
ATP hired 35 residents from Gyumri and Azatan to conduct coppicing, a
traditional method of woodland management to regenerate tree stumps. ATP has
joined with the local governments to distribute the wood cuttings to needy
families for fuel.
"I am extremely proud to see the coppicing project reinitiated," stated
Garabedian. "It represents a collaboration between ATP and two local
communities, provides income to 35 seasonal workers in those communities,
beautifies and strengthens the trees that are coppiced, and delivers
renewable energy supplies to low income families. Everyone benefits."
A third component of ATP initiatives is to provide environmental education
to students, local residents, and partner organizations. The Michael and
Virginia Ohanian Center for Environmental Studies, which sits at the foot of
ATP's Hrant Dink Memorial Forest in Margahovit, houses classrooms and
conference space, along with a small dormitory that can accommodate people
for multiday conferences on the environment.
Last month, the Ohanian Center opened its doors to a two week training on
waste management organized by the German Society for International
Cooperation (GIZ) and conducted by environmental expert Martin Gabriel.
ATP's environmental education staff members Nvard Gevorgyan and Gayane
Margaryan supported the training with breakout sessions and presentations.
More than 60 people participated in the conference activities.
ATP's mission is to assist the Armenian people in using trees to improve
their standard of living and protect the environment, guided by the desire
to promote self-sufficiency, aid those with the fewest resources first, and
conserve the indigenous ecosystem. ATP's three major programs are tree
planting, environmental education, and sustainable development initiatives.
For more information, please visit the website www.armeniatree.org.
PHOTO CAPTION
Vache Thomassian (standing left) joined dozens of volunteers on April 18 to
plant the first trees in the Sose and Allen Memorial Forest, part of a
successful social media campaign between ATP and Sose and Allen's Legacy
Foundation
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472 USA
Tel: (617) 926-TREE
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.armeniatree.org
PRESS RELEASE
April 23, 2014
ATP Kicks Off 20th Anniversary Year with Tree Plantings All Over Armenia and
Artsakh
YEREVAN--Spring is in the air and Armenia Tree Project has already
beautified 110 communities by planting 22,000 trees through its Community
Tree Planting (CTP) program. The first project took place in Artsakh where
Syrian-Armenian refugees planted ATP fruit trees in Kovsakan. Each year
hundreds of communities are given fruit and decorative trees through the CTP
program. This year, seeking to provide fruit to soldiers in Artsakh, the
program included plantings at six military bases.
A second component of ATP's work is forestry. In a bittersweet launch of
this year's forestry planting, hundreds of volunteers joined forces in
Stepanavan to plant the first seedlings in a memorial forest for Sose
Thomassian and Allen Yekikian. Friends and family of the young couple, whose
lives were tragically cut short last year, joined with volunteers from
Birthright Armenia and Armenian Volunteer Corps to plant the initial 20,000
trees in the forest.
"The planting of these 42,000 trees this spring has brought the total number
of trees planted by ATP to 4,497,869 since 1994," reported ATP Managing
Director Tom Garabedian. Reflecting on the organization's milestone
anniversary this year, he continued: "Throughout our 20 years of planting,
ATP has forged invaluable partnerships with people along with dozens of
organizations, businesses, and institutions to advance projects that
beautify the environment."
Collaboration with KPMG Armenia helped to green the Kentavr hippotherapy
center in Ushi village this season, Byblos Bank facilitated planting at Poqr
Mher military educational center for children, and the Ararat Cultural
Center joined ATP to conduct a planting adjacent to Zvartnots Temple. As in
previous years, ATP provided trees for the Paros Foundation that supports
mothers and children, orphans, and needy families.
Plantings at schools included Yerevan State University and the State
Engineering University of Armenia and in a partnership with the Foundation
for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC), a planting at
their new Eco-Training Center in Urtsador.
In a relaunch of a program designed to restore trees and create new jobs,
ATP hired 35 residents from Gyumri and Azatan to conduct coppicing, a
traditional method of woodland management to regenerate tree stumps. ATP has
joined with the local governments to distribute the wood cuttings to needy
families for fuel.
"I am extremely proud to see the coppicing project reinitiated," stated
Garabedian. "It represents a collaboration between ATP and two local
communities, provides income to 35 seasonal workers in those communities,
beautifies and strengthens the trees that are coppiced, and delivers
renewable energy supplies to low income families. Everyone benefits."
A third component of ATP initiatives is to provide environmental education
to students, local residents, and partner organizations. The Michael and
Virginia Ohanian Center for Environmental Studies, which sits at the foot of
ATP's Hrant Dink Memorial Forest in Margahovit, houses classrooms and
conference space, along with a small dormitory that can accommodate people
for multiday conferences on the environment.
Last month, the Ohanian Center opened its doors to a two week training on
waste management organized by the German Society for International
Cooperation (GIZ) and conducted by environmental expert Martin Gabriel.
ATP's environmental education staff members Nvard Gevorgyan and Gayane
Margaryan supported the training with breakout sessions and presentations.
More than 60 people participated in the conference activities.
ATP's mission is to assist the Armenian people in using trees to improve
their standard of living and protect the environment, guided by the desire
to promote self-sufficiency, aid those with the fewest resources first, and
conserve the indigenous ecosystem. ATP's three major programs are tree
planting, environmental education, and sustainable development initiatives.
For more information, please visit the website www.armeniatree.org.
PHOTO CAPTION
Vache Thomassian (standing left) joined dozens of volunteers on April 18 to
plant the first trees in the Sose and Allen Memorial Forest, part of a
successful social media campaign between ATP and Sose and Allen's Legacy
Foundation