AZG Armenian Daily #090, 20/05/2005

Armenian forests

IMPLICATIONS OF THE NEW FOREST CODE

Part One: Protect Our Forests

Note: this is the first of three columns focusing on key points of the new
draft forest code and its implications for Armenia’s threatened forests.

Armenia’s endangered forests

Last week a series of discussions began in Yerevan focusing on the draft new
forest code. These discussions, organized by Armenian Forests NGO with the
support of Open Society Institute public policy formation grant, seek to
engage key NGOs and others in the realization of this proposed Code and
related implementation. These discussions are timed to prepare for the
expected introduction of the draft code to Parliament later this spring.

For those who may not be aware, the destruction of the forests in Armenia is
reaching tragic levels. Although forests historically covered approximately
40-45% of current territory of Armenia and even the early 20th century it
was 25%, forests now only cover about 8-9% of the Republic of Armenia. Loss
of forests brings problems of soil erosion, landslides, loss of springs and
rivers, loss of fruits and other forest products, greater weather damage,
loss of productive soil, loss of biodiversity, loss of sensitive animal
habitat and additional problems. Although some of the greatest loss occurred
during the energy crisis, the cutting and devastation still continue at
alarming rates. According to expert estimates, at current rates of
destruction Armenian forests could be destroyed within 20 years.

In Soviet times and since then, Armenia’s forests have had protective status
in that there is no legal cutting except sanitary cutting intended only to
cover getting the dead trees out of the forests and care cutting (select
thinning) to improve the health of the forest. However, under the guise of
“sanitary cutting” mass cutting is carried out mostly by illegal business
operations supplying wood for internal fuel needs, furniture, construction
and sending the best, most valuable trees to other countries.

During Soviet times, the government planted up to 7,000 hectares of forests
each year and imported wood (from Russia and other places) to meet needs
within Armenia. Unfortunately, there has been almost no reforestation since
1991 and there is very little import of wood while the cutting has increased
dramatically.

Why a new forest code?

The current code is not bad, but needs some updating to reflect the current
situation and it was significant enough that it made more sense to develop a
whole new code. This has been a long process managed by FISP (Forest
Institutional Support Program), a group funded by the Swedish SIDA, under
the World Bank Natural Resources Management and Poverty Reduction Program.
Nazeli Vardanyan, an environmental attorney and director of Armenian Forests
NGO has been one of the lead people in facilitating this in-depth process
and developing the code with other local and foreign experts over the last
18 months.

The forests should remain under the ownership of Armenia’s people

Among one of the key provisions that should remain in the code through the
Parliamentary process is the provision of ownership. Armenia’s forests are
here for the benefit of current and future generations. To that end,
Armenia’s forests have been and should always remain the property of the
state as guardians for the people and never be privatized. The Minister of
Agriculture, David Lokyan, who is the lead minister for this code and the
World Bank, which is responsible for the project that has developed this
draft code, are adamant that privatization of Armenia’s forests should not
be allowed; however, there are others who would love to buy forest land, cut
the trees, build their mansions, fence it off for their own use.

We have only to look at other examples of countries that have gone this
route to the destruction of their forests to see what a disaster this would
be for Armenia. Upon analyzing the impact of privatization in Central and
Eastern European countries, an FAO report (Issues and Opportunities in the
Evolution of Private Forestry and Forestry Extension in Several Countries
with Economies in Transition in Central and Eastern Europe) sites extensive
problems with management of private forest areas and recommends against this
direction for CEE countries.

Armenia’s forests are in a precarious position; hopefully this series of
workshops and media coverage of these issues will help encourage people to
be more engaged in the protection of the forest resources of Armenia. If we
expect the forests to be here for the next generation of Armenia’s children,
Parliament should maintain the provision that maintains forests as state
property.

Part Two: What Will Our Grandchildren Say?

“We have inherited the nature from our ancestors to preserve and pass on to
our future generations.”

–Armenian proverb

Is this the framework by which Armenia is treating its forests?

When the illegal business operation cuts 80-100 year old trees and leaves
bare hillsides behind to erode, like so many areas in Armenia, are they
acting in the best interest of their grandchildren’s generation, or even
their son’s and daughter’s? Hardly.

This column will briefly explore two key aspects of the draft forest code
and related laws; namely sustainable management and the flow of trees across
our borders.

Managing the forests, ensuring a future

Armenia’s forests are suffering from shortsightedness. This is not to blame
people for cutting trees to keep their family from freezing in the
winter-any of us would do so if needed. However, those who have choices
(such as those running and profiting from the illegal cutting operations)
are doing what may seem to be in their short-term interest, but at the
expense of not only everyone else but their own long-term interests. We
cannot, as the saying goes, see the forests for the trees. In the attempt by
a few rich people to further fill their pockets today, the forests,
biodiversity, habitat and not least Armenia’s people are suffering-and will
continue to do so for generations.

Armenia must immediately move to practices of sustainable forest management
as well as mass reforestation to begin to stem the tide of destruction. We
are hopeful that this code, if properly enacted and enforced, will help
support such a change; but the leadership and citizens alike must make it
so.

Is it possible for Armenia to have productive-cutting for commercial uses
like construction and furniture-forests while restoring the forests? The
answer remains to be seen, but it certainly is the case in other countries.
To do so requires proper management. It is clear that the forests have not
been managed well, barely at all, since Soviet times. It is theoretically
possible to identify and allow proper, controlled, sustainable cutting the
less sensitive areas of forests where harvesting will cause minimal
disruption while prohibiting cutting in the most sensitive areas such as
those where the slope is very steep (prone to erosion) or particularly
delicate biodiversity areas.

Parallel mass reforestation must be made a high priority in order to begin
to repair the damage done by over a decade of abuse, mismanagement,
corruption and need-based cutting. Nurseries must be established,
cultivation of high quality trees must be undertaken, forests planted and
cared for, dry or eroded land must be reclaimed to reverse the trend of
desertification as has impoverished so much land in Armenia.

Exporting our valuable forests

Another example of shortsightedness and pure greed in the forest sector is
the situation of mass export of large, valuable trees to other countries. In
Soviet times (and technically still on paper, though not in practice)
Armenia forests were considered under “protective” status and there was no
productive cutting for internal uses let alone external uses. That has all
changed; now not only are people over-cutting Armenia’s forests to meet
internal demand and make furniture for export, but a few wealthy people
taking advantage of the corrupt, non-existent enforcement of laws to again
fill their pockets by cutting and selling Armenia’s most valuable trees as
whole logs to Iran, Spain, Italy, Germany and even Turkey.

One may rationalize destruction of forests for internal needs based on a
poor economic situation and the lack of affordable alternative fuels, but
such destruction purely for the gain of a few is inexcusable. These people
are in essence stealing our grandchildren’s property.

Unfortunately besides the corruption and greed, there is a policy that
supports such destruction. Namely that for import of wood-something that
Armenia needs to protect the remaining forests-there are both taxes and
customs fees making it prohibitively more expensive. Adding to the
imbalance, exports of wood are charged neither taxes nor customs fees. This
unfortunately increases the incentive to cut more forests for export. At the
very least, this must be reversed to allow more incentives for import and
disincentives for export.

Armenian Forests NGO among organizations seeks to include such an amendment
to the tax law and customs code as part of the forest code package.

If Armenia really does have sufficient forest resources to allow for export,
one related positive step that could be taken is to develop properly managed
“certified” forests. In this way the products could be “certified” by a
recognized third party as harvested in a sustainable manner. This would
thereby not only support the protection of our forests, but enable Armenia’s
trees to command much higher prices on the world market.

Another way to look at it is to see that the forests belong not to us but to
our grandchildren and their grandchildren. Forests are the cornerstones of
our ecosystem and support fragile biodiversity and animal habitat, and
moderate the microclimate, protect the soil, and clean the air. We must be
thinking, feeling and most importantly, acting with a view to the future. As
much trouble as it may seem to stop the mass destruction of the forests, it
is much more costly to try to repair the damage later.

Armenia must immediately implement an effective process of sustainable
management and restoration of its forests. Armenia should not be exporting
its scare, valuable forest wood to countries that have richer forests than
Armenia; at a minimum, Armenia should establish incentives for import and
disincentives for export of wood. These measures should be adopted by
Parliament and enacted by law, but will take the concerted will and effort
of all levels of society to carry them out. From the President to
Parliament, to marzpets and village mayors, to villagers and Yerevan
residents; the commitment must be borne by everyone.

Part Three: Making it Real; Making it Work, Now

Mass deforestation in Armenia is being driven by a combination of factors
including poverty, lack of affordable alternative energy, corruption and
shortsighted mentality. These are significant issues that feed on each other
and exacerbate the destruction of forests. However, gains in these areas due
to other efforts (such as improving the economy, implementing the rule of
law and cracking down on corruption) will also have payoffs for the forest
sector.

In this context, the new forest code has been drafted and will be submitted
to the Parliament later this spring or in the fall. Although it is not a
“silver bullet” it could be an effective tool to bring about positive
changes for the dwindling forests of Armenia.

Parliament’s responsibility

A tremendous amount of work has gone into developing the current new draft
forest code (and related legislation on exports and imports of wood) aimed
at helping improve the forests of Armenia. However, the best draft code will
not have a chance of bringing any positive change to forest problems unless
its provisions are maintained through the Parliamentary process and signed
into law.

There are likely to be pressures within the Parliament to gut or change
certain key provisions of the code before it becomes law. The important next
steps must include local citizens, NGO’s, international organizations, and
donor organizations (not the least of which are the World Bank and Swedish
SIDA who are funding the project dealing with this new code). We must convey
to members of Parliament and the President the need to pass this new code
and related legislation intact. We hope they will take this responsibility
seriously and do the right thing for current and future generations.

The critical details

The current forest code, which is still in force until a new one replaces
it, is not so bad. However, although it was passed in 1994, the vast
majority of the regulations (also referred to here as “bylaws”) were never
adopted. Unfortunately, regulations-which describe how the law will be
carried out and by whom-are required to implement the law. Without them,
there are no directions to for the bodies to be able to enforce the law. It
is like a car that has a destination but no driver and no road to get there.

Once the new code is adopted as law, the regulations must be finalized and
also adopted as quickly as reasonably possible. We should not accept excuses
that aim to needlessly delay this critical step.

Enforcement is the key

Many officials point to the poor economic situation of villagers and try to
pretend that the villagers are the ones to blame for cutting the forests. In
fact, villagers pulling branches and small trees from the forest by hand or
donkey (although certainly a factor) are a fairly small fraction of the
whole problem. In this case, the real villains are the businessmen who are
bribing local officials to look the other way while they take out the large,
valuable trees by the truckloads for sale in and out of Armenia. In some
cases they are even making new roads to access the more remote forests.

It is no secret that Armenia’s laws are not generally well enforced, but
steps must be taken to immediately curb the corruption and rampant theft of
forests if we expect forests to remain for our grandchildren.

The other thing some officials say to disguise the truth of this ongoing
destruction is to talk about the past with phrases like “Armenia experienced
extensive over-cutting of forests during the energy crisis in the early
90’s.” The reality is that although some of the greatest loss occurred
during the energy crisis, the cutting and devastation still continue at
alarming rates. In fact, the cutting that occurred at that point, although
it was significant, was purely need-based. Now, unfortunately, a few are
making a big business of cutting forests for their personal gain.

The single most important aspect of all of this is that THERE MUST BE PROPER
ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW. Without proper enforcement the forests will continue
to be destroyed.

For proper enforcement to happen several factors must be in place. First
there must be the political will among officials at all levels to make sure
the law is followed. Second, the public, NGO’s, international organizations,
media, and others must be engaged and help create the political will for
enforcement to take place. Steps must be taken to develop effective means of
enforcement and to weed out corruption. The regulations should make it easy
to do the right thing and difficult to do the wrong thing-not the other way
around.

It will not be an easy road, but the new code and related regulations once
adopted, MUST BE ENFORCED-PERIOD.

In conclusion, Armenia’s forests are at a critical juncture. Forests now
cover only 8-9 percent of the country and the forests that remain are in
relatively poor condition. As a result, great areas of Armenia are beginning
to suffer due to erosion, drying of springs and rivers, loss of
biodiversity, loss of animal habitat, desertification and other problems.
Given the fragile state of the forests here and the immense destruction that
is currently underway, this situation demands to be resolved.

The new forest code and related regulations could be an effective tool to
protect and restore the forests, but the commitment to follow and enforce
the law must be there. This is a commitment that must be borne by all
sectors of society from the local villagers, to NGO’s, to businesses, to
local officials, to the highest levels of government. We must act quickly
and with firm resolve to get this new code enacted, adopt effective
regulations and to make sure it is effectively enforced. Only then will our
grandchildren have a chance of inheriting any forests.

For more information or to get a electronic copy of the draft code and
related documents, please email Armenian Forests NGO at
info@ArmenianForests.am.

By Jeffrey Tufenkian, co-founder and president of Armenian Forests NGO
focusing on actions to restore and protect Armenia’s forests for current and
future generations. See He also is co-founder of
Kanach Foundation, publisher of the Adventure Armenia: Hiking and Rock
Climbing book ().