KAPAN-MEGHRI HIGHWAY TO BYPASS SHIKAHOGH RESERVE

YEREVAN, JUNE 17, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Minister of Transport and
Communication Andranik Manukian stated at the June 17 public hearing
that the Kapan-Meghri highway will be built by bypassing the Shikahogh
Reserve. He announced that the previous project envisaging that
the road will intersect the reserve at the Mtnadzor Forest has been
withdrawn. According to him, a commission to provide the technical and
economic substantiation of the alternative project has been set up. By
this alternative project, the road not only does not cross the reserve
but also runs through the village of Shishkert which would be of great
importance for the economic development of Syunik marz. Minister of
Nature Protection Vardan Aivazian welcomed the decision underlining
that the economic damage should be assessed not only in terms of
the number of the trees cut down but also means the destruction
of the unique ecosystem, which is even more dangerous. Director
of the World Wild Fund (WWF) Armenian Office Karen Manvelian said
that the implementation of the previous project would result in the
destruction of the Mtnadzor Forest as part of the Shikahogh Reserve,
as well as of tens of plant and animal species included in the Red
Book. At the conclusion of the hearing, the environmental community,
under the pressure of which the initial project was withdrawn, stated
its intention to conduct the monitoring of all the activities on the
construction of the Kapan-Meghri highway. The hearing was organized by
the working group “SOS Shikahogh” composed of representatives of the
Coalition of Ecological NGOs, WWF, the American University of Armenia,
the Armenian Tree Project and the organization Armenian Forests.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress