ARCHIVE: From the Director's Desk

September 2005

Our “Trees of Hope” campaign, initiated last April in observance of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, attracted many new donors. As a result, our plans to plant 90,000 trees this year will not only be met, but will likely be far exceeded. But that’s not the only good news.

Due to the expansion of our rural economic development program, locally-run family nurseries will produce up to an additional 120,000 trees ready for outplanting this fall. So we have our work cut out for us.

With your generous help, we will purchase these additional trees from the families and provide a much needed source of income for them, while accelerating our work in restoring the dangerously degraded forests in the area.

What’s more, this past summer, it really hit home that the restoration of Armenia’s environment must be backed up with environmental education and mobilization of public support. It’s the best chance we have to protect Armenia’s few remaining natural treasures, such as the Shikahogh Nature Reserve located in the south of the country.

To that end, we collaborated closely with nearly 40 local organizations and many individuals in Armenia to lobby the government to change its plans to build a highway through this ancient and pristine forest, untouched by humans and home to many endangered animals and indigenous plants.

The strong response to our email action alert, sent to 5,000 friends and supporters, helped persuade the Armenian government to identify an alternative route for the highway. This is a huge step in empowering a disenfranchised population to participate in the democratic process.

Now is the time to build on that momentum with education and advocacy programs among Armenia’s citizens—who ultimately are the caretakers of our precious Homeland.
Simply put, if we don’t give Armenia’s threatened environment as high a priority as the nation’s economy and national security, it will surely have devastating consequences for those very issues we care about.

To quote Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, “Losing topsoil [as a result of deforestation] should be considered analogous to losing territory to an invading enemy. And indeed, if any country were so threatened, it would mobilize all available resources, including a heavily armed military, to protect the priceless land.”

Your participation is important in helping us restore Armenia’s environment, reforest the landscape, give jobs and hope to citizens, and keep the economy growing over the long term. Your support will help us in this race against time to reverse the damage to Armenia’s landscape, its agricultural base, and its fragile ecosystem.

Save Armenia’s forests and grow Armenia’s future. It’s that simple and that urgent.

Jeff Masarjian
Executive Director
Armenia Tree Project