No More Forest in Armenia in 2020, Say Environmentalists

There will be no more forest in Armenia in 2020. US environmentalists came to this conclusion on the basis of satellite data, said ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan and representatives from the NGO Hazarashen Armenian Center of Ethnological Studies at a press conference today.

The NGO has recently studied the relationship of Armenian residents who live close to forests with the forest. Kharatyan said they mainly focused on 8 settlements, in the marzes (provinces) of Syunik, Tavush and Lori. People make use of the forest in all these settlements.

The ethnographer (and Hazarashen NGO president) said that there’s firewood in the forest, they are the remains of trees that have been cut down by others and unhealthy trees that have to be cut, but people don’t know the correct ways to use the forest and bringing everything back again, results in deforestation and logging.   

Kharatyan was concerned not so much of this type of logging, but rather of those acts of deforestation which are done for business purposes. On principle, she’s not against deforestation for business aims, but it has be done within the confines of a special forest management program, must be under state control and be done compassionately. That which they’ve seen and recorded during their studies, is incomparable to the amount of trees cut by an ordinary resident. For business, trees are cut in huge quantities, and it’s the best ones that are cut, said the Hazarashen NGO president.

Another participant in today’s press conference, Ecolur NGO President Inga Zarafyan, was surprised and disturbed by the big difference between the official and unofficial data.

According to data published by “Hayantar” (Armenian Forest), there is 11.2% of forest in Armenia today; that is, as much as there was in 1992. That means that the last 18 years haven’t had an effect on the percentage of the country’s forested area.

Zarafyan said that in these conditions of deforestation and logging, Armenia has to take drastic measures to save the forests. Environmentalists are proposing to the government to prohibit any kind of logging for the next 5 years. 

This proposal was presented to competent officials, but they, according to Zarafyan, aren’t giving their consent. 

“The say that with this [law], it would pose a big problem for those who live in settlements close to forests,” said the Ecolur president. 

The resolution of the issue, according to environmentalists, is to reduce the cost of natural gas for residents in those areas.