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From the Director's Desk January 2006 In 2005, Armenia Tree Project continued to make significant strides towards fulfilling its mission of reforestation through the large scale planting of trees, community economic and social development, and environmental education and advocacy. Our tree planting capacity is being vastly expanded with a growing number of partners participating in backyard nurseries, and the establishment of the new Mirak Family reforestation nursery in Margahovit. We began the year by pledging to plant 90,000 trees in honor of the 90th anniversary of the genocide—nearly double what we’ve ever planted in a single year. By year’s end, we managed to plant over 170,000 trees, including our first forest in the hills above Aygut village. This was made possible by a generous donation from Gus and Marjorie Barber of Maine. Over 150 families in Aygut and neighboring villages grew 120,000 trees in backyard nurseries, which we purchased and hired local workers to plant. This year, 330 families will participate in the program and will grow up to 400,000 trees. In addition, 600,000 seedlings will be ready for outplanting from our nursery plot in Vanadzor, and as many as 250,000 from Margahovit, placing us in the position of having potentially over one million trees ready for planting in 2006! In our Karin and Khachpar nurseries, we are continuing the transition to fruit tree production, which we hope will be raised from 50 percent to 75 percent of the trees produced by 2008. Nearly 51,500 trees were supplied to our Community Tree Planting program in 2005 for planting at 98 sites. Best of all, over 250,000 pounds of apricots, apples, peaches, plums, and cherries were harvested from our trees for the benefit of local communities. ATP staff members conducted a total of 86 environmental education trainings with 1,853 participants in 2005—the most ever! We also participated in four environmental education conferences. In November, ATP hired Gayane Ghukasyan, PhD, to oversee our environmental education programs. She managed to get our curriculum material updated, printed, and approved for distribution to the public schools through the Ministry of Education. We plan to conduct several “training of trainers” programs in 2006 to introduce public school teachers to the curriculum. One of our most significant accomplishments in 2005 was our involvement with a coalition of 40 environmental organizations and individuals who collaboratively worked to save the Shikahogh Nature Reserve in southern Armenia from having a highway constructed through it. This unprecedented alliance between indigenous individuals, NGOs, and members of the Diaspora, who sent over 800 electronic letters to the President of Armenia and other government officials in response to an ATP “action alert,” furthered the development of civil society by demonstrating that citizens do have a voice in impacting government policies and practice. ATP co-produced three new films on Armenia’s environment with World Wildlife Fund and Armenian Forests NGO for the purpose of public education and advocacy. These documentaries were created by the talented staff of Vem Media Arts in Yerevan and covered the following topics: Shikahogh, Yerevan’s loss of green spaces, and Lake Sevan. An additional nine films are planned for 2006. ATP’s purchase of 120,000 trees from 153 families in the villages of Aygut, Dzoravank, and Aghavnavank, and the employment of an additional 49 people to plant the trees was an unprecedented cash infusion into the local economy. In addition, our coppicing program hired 43 part-time workers this past summer. In 2006 we will have many challenges ahead of us as we play an even greater role in Armenia’s environmental restoration, and I hope we will continue to inspire your confidence and support as partners in this important work. Jeff Masarjian |
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