Armenia

Kotayk, Kotayk Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Tufenkian Foundation 2006
As part of work for the Tufenkian Foundation in Armenia, today took me to Kotayk Region of Armenia where the Armenian Forests NGO have a project to replant trees in a village of the same name. As concerns are raised regarding deforestation and […]

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 […]

Lake Sevan, Gegharkunik Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

Lake Sevan, Gegharkunik Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

Gyumri, Shirak Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2005

Nareg at Cilicia.com’s Life in Armenia blog says that he’s just come back from a tree planting event in Armenia’s second largest city, Gyumri. The event was apparently arranged by the General Prosecutor of Armenia, Aghvan Hovsepian, who could perhaps really try to reverse the current trend of deforestation by prosecuting those officials and businessmen responsible for illegal logging rather than engage in a few more publicity stunts. Still, Nareg says that the party afterwards was a blast.

The large central table was occupied by the big shots, including Mr. Hovsepyan, and this one character who kept getting up and making genatses (toasts) in a VERY loud voice. It reminded me of that crocodile character in Disney’s “Robin Hood” cartoon; really, the guy did very well, most impressive, without having to resort to a microphone. He was like a TYPICAL local, though, albeit dressed in white, and with a cap that made him rather reminiscent of chauffeur. But he was loud, so very loud, and then he got up on stage and began to sing and sing and sing… Finally, I ask someone, “Who is this character, anyway ?”. As I’m sure some of you reading may have already guessed, I forgot the chap’s name, but he was the right honourable Mayor of Gyumri.

Both the Mayor of Gyumri and the General Prosecutor are very interesting characters indeed. In March 2004, the Armenian President has accused the Mayor of mismanaging reconstruction of Gyumri, and at one point there was even talk of opening a criminal case against him.

Prosecutors said on Thursday they are considering opening a criminal case against Gyumri’s embattled Mayor Vartan Ghukasian who has been accused by President Robert Kocharian of mismanaging the distribution of new housing in Armenia’s second city.

[…]

Hamlet Hovsepian, the chief prosecutor of the northwestern Shirak region of which Gyumri is the capital, told RFE/RL that Ghukasian is suspected of illegally renting out office space to a close relative. He said the municipal authorities bypassed the city council when making the decision.

Asked whether Ghukasian will personally be charged with abuse of power, Hovsepian replied: “Things will clear up in a few days’ time.”

The case, concerning the ground floor of a local public building, pales in comparison with accusations made against the flamboyant mayor by an inter-ministerial government commission earlier this month. The commission, led by the head of Kocharian’s oversight service, Vahram Barseghian, claimed to have found “numerous abuses” in the distribution of thousands of new apartments built in the earthquake-ravaged city with the multimillion-dollar assistance of a U.S.-Armenian charity. Its preliminary findings were publicly endorsed by Kocharian.

Still, at least the Mayor didn’t drink so much this time that he started firing off guns at people sitting at other tables. Residents of Gyumri confirm the incident, but also say that Ghukasian’s relatives unfortunately do far worse, but nobody dares investigate the accusations further.

Armenian newspapers report that the flamboyant mayor of Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri, Vartan Ghukasian, shot from a pistol at a group of Russian soldiers after a drunken argument in a local restaurant belonging to his brother. “Fortunately, no one was hurt and only the restaurant’s windows were left broken,” says “Aravot,” adding that Gyumri prosecutors have launched an investigation into the incident.

“The mayor, who was drunk, picked a fight with Russian servicemen sitting at a nearby table,” says “Haykakan Zhamanak.” “He lost his nerve in the process and he emptied the entire magazine [of his pistol] in the direction of the Russians.” The paper also says that no casualties were reported, suggesting sarcastically that the mayor, known for his staunch support for President Robert Kocharian, was too drunk to take aim. “The servicemen have already filed a report on the incident and the Shirak region’s police department is preparing materials in connection with the fact. Particularly important is the fact that the pistol was possessed illegally.” Officials in the Gyumri mayor’s office, however, deny that the incident took place at all.

Well, anyway, looks like the General Prosecutor and Gyumri’s Mayor seem to have made up their differences and are now partying together. Aghvan Hovsepian, no stranger to controversy in Armenia, seems to be going from strength to strength since his re-appointment two years ago that saw a massive violation of human and civil rights during opposition protests in Yerevan during April the same year.

Not sure about national “unity,” but I hope there was enough Shant ice cream to go around. Nareg at least gave us an insight into some of the bizarre contradictions and peculiarities that still define modern-day Armenia.

Armenia Now has a special issue dedicated to environmental concerns in the Republic. Unfortunately, since independence, blockade, corruption, poor governance, the lack of accountability and community involvement in the decision making process, as well as the general decline in the rule of law pose a grave threat to Armenia’s long term future.

Armenia can hardly afford to waste or abuse the precious few natural resources offered the tiny, landlocked republic.

[…]

Government authorities, lawmakers and citizens themselves should heed cautious words of environmentalists. And, advocates for everything green must indulge the crucial condition of a society in which a choice for ecology over economy is as real as clean air versus income.

[…]

In these nine articles we report on one factory that is filling a community’s air with toxins, and another that is clogging plants and people with harmful dust. We look inside reasons why Armenia’s forests are dwindling, and we listen to the debate over whether Armenia’s nuclear power plant is safe.

Hetq Online also has more on the environment here, and my article on the campaign to save the Shikahogh Nature Reserve and Mtnadzor Forest, mentioned in the Armenia Now report on deforestation, is here. Thankfully, environmentalists won in this case, but there is still much work to do.

Armenian Forests Community Project, Gosh, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

Armenian Forests Community Project, Gosh, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

An article will be published in the next edition of Hetq Online.

Armenian Forests Community Project, Ijevan, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

Armenian Forests Community Project, Ijevan, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

An article will be published in the next edition of Hetq Online.

Ijevan-Dilijan Road, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

Leaving Ijevan for Yerevan earlier this afternoon the roads were full of people, old and young, transporting wood home to use as fuel and for heating. As an example, the kid in the photo above said that even though his village now had gas, it was too expensive for his family to afford. Wood was the cheapest and most readily available alternative. No wonder then, that deforestation in Armenia has reached catastrophic levels although contrary to popular opinion, this can not be put down to the energy crisis of the early 1990s.

Some would even argue that it is not even socially vulnerable families that have no option but to use wood fires even in Yerevan that are responsible. Simply, oversight mechanisms are not working, corruption is rampant, and businessmen and officials have a lot to gain from the wholescale destruction of Armenia’s last remaining forests. Environmentalists warn that there won’t be any left by 2024 at the present rate of deforestation.

Even so, several local NGOs and international organizations are working on this problem, and in recent years have actually achieved success in saving nature reserves such as Shikahogh — something I wrote about for Oneworld.net.

Government-connected businessmen and state officials engaged in the illegal export of timber from Armenia are mostly to blame for the former Soviet republic’s dwindling number of forests. Whereas 11 per cent of the republic was covered by forests in 1991, the figure stands at below 8 per cent today. Environmentalists warn that unless current trends are reversed, Armenia will be forestless by 2024.

[…]

Meanwhile, public outcry has at least united NGOs in Armenia. Dozens of NGOs working within a coalition to save the nature reserve say that an alternate route should be taken and, already, extensive media coverage has forced the government to suspend construction for 15 days. However, while construction in the reserve has not yet started, bulldozers are still clearing the way for the access road.

[…]

Concern over the fate of Shikahogh and Mtnadzor has also spread far beyond the boundaries of the former Soviet republic. In the influential Armenian Diaspora, Carolyn Mugar, founder of the Armenian Tree Project and Executive Director of the US Farm Aid organization, has already started a letter writing campaign to lobby the Armenian Embassy in Washington.

Since then, the Minister for Transport and Communication, Andranik Manukian, has told the ArmInfo news agency that the government would now look at alternate routes and requested that environmentalists put in as much energy into securing extra finance for the project as they have in protesting. Paradoxically, he also declared that this “change of heart” had nothing to do with the campaign by environmentalists to save Shikahogh.

One thing that struck me about the campaign to save Shikahogh was how a variety of people from all walks of life became involved, and despite all the odds, actually managed to force the Armenian government to overturn its initial decision to construct a highway through it. There were local Armenians, foreigners and Diaspora — young and old, rich and poor, pro-government as well as supporters of the opposition.

Basically, encompassing several issues such as community involvement in decision-making, anti-corruption initiatives and education as well as the environment itself, what I saw was perhaps the most only genuine manifestation of a pro-democracy movement in Armenia today. Therefore, it was with great pleasure that I accompanied the Armenian Forests NGO to Ijevan and Gosh in the Tavoush region of the Republic to see one of their USAID-funded projects aiming to involve local communities in planting trees.

Armenian Forests NGO began in 2002 as a project of the Tufenkian Foundation, and was registered as an independent organization in February 2003. The NGO was founded by the successful entrepreneur, James Tufenkian, who works to advance social justice through his business and philanthropic endeavors. Armenian Forests NGO is the outgrowth of his concern and determination to do what is needed to protect and restore Armenia’s threatened forests while helping to create jobs and build the economy.

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.

Ijevan, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

Accompanying Armenian Forests’ Mher Sharoyan in addition to myself for today’s trip to see trees being planted were three journalists from Hetq Online, A1 Plus and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty’s Max Liberty. Vartuhi will be writing an article on the day’s events for Hetq and I’ll likely be putting together a proper photo essay, but for now a few pics taken of faces encountered along the way. Later, I’ll post some photos of the tree planting in Ijevan and Gosh itself.

In the meantime, Hetq Online has a lot of material in the ecology section of its website.

Incidentally, Armenian Forests were one of the NGOs involved in the campaign to prevent the construction by a senior government official of yet another cafe in central Yerevan. I posted some pics of that event here. There’s also an interview I conducted with Jeffrey Tufenkian here.

Left to Right: Journalists from Hetq Online, A1 Plus and Max Liberty, Gosh, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006

Mher Sharoyan, Gosh, Tavoush Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006