ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
617-926-8733
info@armeniatree.org
www.armeniat ree.org

Contact: Jeffrey Masarjian

August 18, 2004

ATP to Participate in Upcoming UN DPI/NGO Conference in New York City

WATERTOWN, MA – Armenia Tree Project (ATP) has been invited to attend the 57th
Annual United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental
Organization Conference (DPI/NGO) to be held at the UN headquarters in New
York City. The conference will be held from September 8-10 and is titled
`Millennium Development Goals: Civil Society Takes Action.’

The conference will focus on the roles of NGOs as well as civil society and
governments for implementing the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
adopted by the UN assembly during its high-level millennium session in 2000.

ATP was invited to participate in the conference by the Armenian General
Benevolent Union (AGBU) in association with Rotary International and Human
Rights Committee-Peace Action.

The MDG target areas that ATP specifically focuses on in Armenia through its
multi-faceted environmental restoration efforts include poverty alleviation,
hunger reduction, sustainable development, and reversing the loss of
environmental resources through reforestation programs.

ATP has already begun implementing ambitious programs in the villages of
Aygut and Dzoravank located in the Getik River Valley aimed at restoring the
environmental integrity of the surrounding areas while jumpstarting the
local economic development of rural communities. Village residents are
provided economic incentives for fostering the growth of tree seedlings to
be transplanted in nearby decimated forests, thereby helping to reduce
poverty. ATP also provides resources to local schools for teaching
fundamentals about environmental protection and is also strengthening
communities by helping to create fruit and nut orchards, which will provide
greater food security and economic development. Mr. Masarjian will outline
these and other ways that ATP is contributing to the development of civil
society in Armenia during a panel discussion with representatives of two
other NGOs.

Conference delegates will attend five plenary sessions with UN agency, NGO,
civil society, and governmental leaders to assess the challenges associated
with meeting each of the goals by the target date, set for 2015. That same
date marks ATP’s goal to have planted 15 million trees throughout Armenia.

Since 1994, Armenia Tree Project has been dedicated to restoring,
revitalizing, and protecting Armenia’s environment, while simultaneously
alleviating the socioeconomic burdens facing its people. Thus far, over
531,000 trees have been planted and restored under ATP’s guidance throughout
Armenia. By 2006, ATP programs will have the capacity to produce and plant
over 1 million trees per year.

For more information about ATP, please visit

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