Botanical Gardens, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Tufenkian Foundation 2006

Today, as part of work commissioned by the Tufenkian Foundation, I visited a nursery operating under the umbrella of the Armenian Forests NGO situated in the Botanical Gardens in Yerevan. According to the NGO’s web site, Armenian Forests was established by Armenian-American philanthropist and entrepreneur, James Tufenkian.

As a means of reclaiming, protecting, and expanding forested areas, Armenian Forests NGO involves individuals, communities, other NGOs, government, and businesses in a variety of solutions on multiple fronts including changes in policies, norms of thinking and action, economic improvement, public education, and media advocacy.

The NGO’s President is Jeffrey Tufenkian. Anyway, As most readers will know, Armenia faces a huge problem with deforestation, and it’s no surprise that there are concerns that reversing this trend under the Millennium Development Goals might not be achievable.

Armenia’s environmental situation has considerably deteriorated, as compared to 1990, mostly due to the economic crisis of the first half of the 1990s. Deforestation reached unprecedented levels, the waters of Lake Sevan were used for energy generation, soil degradation intensified, and desertification became a threat.

According to expert assessments, massive deforestation resulted in the shrinking of forested areas from 11.2 percent of the total land area in 1990 to only 8 to 9 percent at present. According to MDGs, by 2015, Armenia commits to restore its forest area up to the pre-crisis levels. Unfortunately, that is a very difficult task, especially since illegal cutting is still underway, particularly the cutting of industrial nature.

Well, even if the struggle might be an uphill one, local NGOs such as Armenian Forests are at least trying to do something. I’ve posted about their activities here and here, and also about a collaborative action with other environmental NGOs to protest the destruction of Yerevan’s green areas.

Meanwhile, ArmeniaNow.com ran a disturbing story on Friday concerning the extent of desertification and deforestation in Armenia. According to the article, over 80 percent of the country is at risk, with 26 percent considered to be critical. Interestingly, it appears as though the general public is unhappy with the situation and a lack of government attention.

“Armenia today has chosen a unique way of desertification – the asphalt and concrete desertification,” mentions Karine Danielyan, a former Minister of Environment, who is now the Chairwoman of For the Sustainable Human Development NGO.

Surveys conducted by the NGO found that 55 percent of Yerevan residents think the environmental situation has significantly worsened in recent years; 84 percent of the respondents are primarily concerned with the elimination of green areas. 72.5 percent do not believe authorities are properly addressing environmental problems.

For more information on Armenian Forests the NGO has a web site at http://www.armenianforests.am. There’s an interview I conducted with Jeffrey Tufenkian here. An article by Tufenkian on a new draft forest code is also available here.

Botanical Gardens, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Tufenkian Foundation 2006