When Lusya and her husband relocated from Baku to the village of Aghavnavank in the late 1980s, they moved into a house that once belonged to an Azerbaijani family during Soviet times. With nearly one hectare of land (about 2.5 acres), they saw an opportunity to transform the space into something meaningful by joining ATP's Backyard Nursery Program (BYN).

Today, Lusya and her family cultivate 20 different varieties of trees, each grown with care and destined for ATP’s forestry and community tree planting sites across Armenia. The nursery is managed as a true family enterprise. Liana's husband and daughter assist with planting and maintenance. "It’s our family's project," Lusya says, noting that her grandchildren even bake cookies to enjoy together after a morning in the garden.

Her backyard is alive with activity. Visitors meet the family's two dogs and chickens, walk past neat rows of young trees, and see how bees provide both honey and valuable pollination for certain species. 

After touring her backyard nursery, Liana welcomed us with fresh blackberries and hazelnuts from her yard, served alongside hot coffee and her own honey. She explained that the table and chairs, sofa, and other furniture in her home were purchased with income earned through the BYN Program. More recently, she invested in an eco-friendly drip irrigation system as well as a small swimming pool for her grandchildren. 

"When I look at these trees, I don't just see a nursery," Lusya says. "I see my family's future."

She credits much of her success to ATP's BYN program manager, Seroj, whom she warmly calls "a family member" and "like a son." She values Seroj's expertise in guiding her to establish such a productive nursery. At the same time, she draws on her own background as a former accountant, carefully planning her plantings and projecting her seasonal earnings.

For Lusya, the BYN program has provided both meaningful work and tangible results for her household. It has transformed her yard into a thriving nursery, generated steady income for her family, and contributed thousands of healthy trees to ATP's reforestation efforts. 

Her story is a testament to ATP's Backyard Nursery Program: equipping rural families with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities to strengthen their communities while safeguarding Armenia's environment for future generations.