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ATP
News
ARMENIA TREE PROJECT ISSUE UPDATE Public Forum in Armenia
Reveals Step in the Right Direction
The Armenian government’s plan to build a highway through the Shikahogh nature reserve, one of only three pristine reserves in the country, was revealed early last month. The plan called for cutting at least 14,000 old growth trees and 90,000 younger ones in the reserve. The site is home to innumerable rare and endangered plant and animal species, including up to 12 leopards whose habitats would be gravely threatened by the road. A coalition of organizations and individuals, including Armenia Tree Project (ATP), Armenian Forests NGO, and World Wildlife Fund, worked together to identify viable alternatives to the proposed route, and ATP founder Carolyn Mugar sent a letter asking the government to put a stop to the plan until public hearings are held. On June 10, Ms. Mugar visited the Shikahogh reserve in southern Armenia with a delegation of ATP staff, journalists, and other environmentalists, to observe the endangered reserve first-hand. On June 17, a public forum was held at American University of Armenia (AUA) in Yerevan, to allow the public and NGOs to have an opportunity to discuss the plan with government officials.
ATP staff in Armenia who attended the public forum characterized it as a step in the direction of democracy building and rule of law. “The government understands that there is a real environmental movement of unified NGOs in Armenia,” stated ATP Foundation President Susan Yacubian Klein. “The main result--and a very exciting one to witness--was the workings of the beginning of a civil society from the grassroots level up. The government came, there was a dialogue, and experts spoke in a unified manner.” During the public forum, Minister of Transportation Andranik Manukyan made a tentative announcement that the government is choosing a slightly longer route that does not go through the reserve, but added that a commission was appointed by the Prime Minister to study the issue. The commission was expected to announce its findings within one week. Meanwhile, the coalition working to save the Shikahogh reserve has agreed not to cease its efforts until the issue is completely resolved and the construction circumvents the reserve altogether. The highly publicized forum at AUA was attended by an overflow audience, and governmental speakers also included Minister of Nature Protection Vardan Ayvazyan and several parliamentarians.
According to ATP staff that attended the forum, the Minister of Nature Protection emphasized that the commission is studying the issue for another week and no final decision has been reached. During a heated discussion with questions from the audience, a parliamentarian from Meghri demanded to know why an environmental analysis was not done, and characterized it as a criminal act to start the road before the analysis was done. He added that the analysis was done later by NGOs, when legally it should have been done by the government. After the Ministers made their announcement and departed, Deputy Minister of Nature Protection Simon Papyan stayed to listen and respond to a series of speakers originally scheduled to address the issue. While some speakers accused the government of wanting to profit from the sale of timber from the Shikahogh reserve, Karen Manvelyan of the World Wildlife Fund appealed to the audience to speak calmly and thanked the government, the NGOs, and the Diaspora who worked hard on resolving this issue. In his presentation, Manvelyan discussed the biodiversity in the Shikahogh reserve, and the threat that tree cutting would present to its ecosystem. He noted that the Mtnadzor forest, which covers half of the reserve, can be considered a “monument of natural heritage.” A highlight of the speakers was Nazeli Vardanyan of the Armenian Forests NGO, who provided an account of the laws that have already been violated by the plan for the roadway. She cited in particular the articles of the Constitution which state the government is not supposed to damage the environment, and is required in fact to ensure the protection of the environment and the rational utilization of natural resources. Vardanyan emphasized that no decision has been reached yet, so the public needs to remain vigilant for further violations of the law. She also added that the Forestry Code was violated and that environmental experts must be consulted when roads are constructed, and that they stopped building the road only when the public raised concerns. The government is supposed to have public hearings announced in the newspapers, which was not done, emphasized Ms. Vardanyan. Renee Richer from the AUA Environmental Center continued with a presentation about damage to the environment when a road goes through a forest, citing habitat fragmentation and problems with water, predators, and parasites. Finally, botanist Nora Gabrielyan made a presentation on biodiversity and rare species in the Shikahogh reserve. She revealed that Shikahogh has virgin forests that don't exist anywhere else in Armenia, along with relics of ancient flora that can only survive in that habitat. The Deputy Minister of Nature Protection thanked the NGOs for initiating the public forum, and said it clearly demonstrated the force of the movement and was an appropriate manner to raise issues and solve problems. He also encouraged the audience to raise concerns about other topics as well, and said it will help the government reach more balanced decisions after listening to independent experts who are not afraid to speak up. Earlier this month, ATP issued
an action alert via email asking the community
to contact the Armenian Embassy in their country
to communicate their concerns to President Robert
Kocharian on this issue. The appeal resulted
in hundreds of responses beginning almost immediately,
and the public is encouraged to continue to
support the effort until there are guarantees
that the Shikahogh nature reserve will be protected.
To participate in the campaign, go to: http://www.armeniatree.org/alert.htm
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