FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 2, 2006

Environmental Film No. 2
Yerevan: City or Desert?

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FILM

The second in a series of 20-minute environmental films produced by Vem Media Arts in Armenia, titled “Yerevan: City or Desert?” was funded by Armenia Tree Project, Armenian Forests NGO, World Wildlife Fund Caucasus Office, and American University of Armenia’s Environmental Conservation and Research Center.

The film features expert testimony from Eleonora Gabrielyan, head of Armenia’s Botany Institute, Karine Danielyan, chair of the Association for Sustainable Human Development, Artsvin Grigoryan, former chairman of the Armenian Architects Union, and Marzpet Kamalyan, deputy head of the State Environmental Inspectorate.

Since 2000, the rate of upper respiratory diseases in Yerevan has increased by 20 percent, the incidence of allergies and asthma among children is growing, and cases of cancer have escalated. Experts believe this is in large part due to the city’s deteriorating environmental condition and loss of green spaces.

“Nature does not forgive man’s mistakes, and children will pay tomorrow for the mistakes committed by adults today. However, destruction of green areas in Yerevan can hardly be dismissed as a mere mistake,” states the narrator in the opening of the film.

According to Yerevan’s official city plan, the green space and landscape arrangement was designed in such a way that if one wanted to go from one end of the city to the other, one could do this through green spaces, notes former chairman of the Armenian Architects Union Artsvin Grigoryan.

The first blow to the green spaces of Yerevan came during the energy crisis of the early 1990s when city-dwellers were forced to live without gas or electricity. They installed stoves that consumed anything that would burn. During that time, one of the city’s strongest protective belts, the Nork forest, was cut down.

In place of trees, the construction of villas extended over time and the government rezoned the area. This has had a major impact on the air quality in the city, since urban forests absorb dust particles and pollutants such as carbon dioxide.

In addition to the Nork forest, the film documents the loss of trees in the Botanical Garden, Dalma Gardens, Victory Park, Greenbelt Park, Hrazdan Gorge, and Opera Park, as increasing numbers of influential people seek to build new commercial buildings and businesses. In Opera Park, for example, magnificent plane trees were cut down to make way for new construction and commercial cafes.

“The downtown environment is seriously endangered and heavily polluted. Global studies show that emissions concentrate in city centers,” states Karine Danielyan, chair of the Association for Sustainable Human Development. “Yerevan is also overloaded with automobiles. No wonder diseases are particularly widespread here. So the so-called ‘beauty’ of restaurants and cafes comes at the expense of our population’s health.”

The film reveals that a parking lot is planned for the territory where the Vernisage is situated. Because it is now illegal to cut down trees, the roots of trees have been damaged and the 60-70 year old trees have started to dry up.

“I am near tears every time I look at these trees--their roots cut off, soil removed to deliberately dry them out. I don’t understand how an Armenian can cut his own tree, turning the city into a desert,” states one city resident. “Where will they live, after all? What air will they themselves or their children breathe?”

Written by Inga Zarafyan and produced by Hayk Kbeyan, the 20-minute documentary film “Yerevan: City or Desert?” is being made available for personal and public viewing in DVD format. To acquire a copy of the film in the diaspora with English subtitles, contact Armenia Tree Project via email at info@armeniatree.org.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FILM

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