Institute for War & Peace Reporting
July 7 2005
ARMENIA: DEFORESTATION PLANS DITCHED
Public pressure forces Armenian government to back down on plans to
build a highway through nature reserve.
By Arevhat Grigorian in Shikahogh.
The Armenian government has abandoned plans to build a new highway
through a nature reserve after an unusual public outcry, led by local
environmental groups.
In June, the government approved a road route linking Armenia and
Iran, to the south, via the Shikahogh reserve.
Instead, the road will now circumvent Shikahogh and the Mtnadzor
forests, home to unique trees, plants and even a small number of rare
panthers.
The government was forced to bypass the park by adopting an alternate
route that will add seven kilometres to the original 89-km projected
length. Armenian environmentalists say avoiding Shikahogh will save
14,000 rare trees and hailed the climb down by the government as a
major victory.
But Transport and Communications Minister Andranik Manukian said the
plan to build the road through Shikahogh had been reconsidered not
because of pressure from NGOs, but due to so-called `strategic
problems’. Some observers said the government was merely reluctant
to admit a defeat.
`True, the government does not accept it in any way, but public
opinion was the reason for the change of a decision,’ said Sona
Ayvazian, environmental policy expert with the Centre for Regional
Development/Transparency International Armenia.
Vladik Matirosian of the local non-governmental organisation Khustup
said deforestation would have caused four billion drams (8.8 million
US dollars) in damage to the environment, and endangered many animals
in the area.
`Because of land explosions and the construction machinery, the
forest’s fauna would at best have fled the territory which is an
impregnable, irreplaceable habitat,’ said Martirosian.
Many species in Shikahogh – like the Bezoarian Goat and the Armenian
moufflon (a species of wild sheep) – are indigenous to Armenia. The
reserve is also home to between five and eight Asian Panthers – an
endangered species of which there are only 20 in the greater
Caucasus.
The name Shikahogh (orange earth) comes from the orangey, fiery red
colour of soil in the area. Scientists say the ten thousand hectares
of forest help to moderate hot winds blowing from desert plains in
Iran to the south. The vegetation is also influenced by air from the
Caspian Sea to the east. These climatic conditions have created a mix
of flora and fauna unique to the region, they say.
The oldest parts of the forest in Shikahogh are 1,000 years old. The
growth is so thick in places it block out almost all sunlight,
meaning that deep in the forest even the brightest days can seem dark
here. Experts say the local ecosystem has been kept intact largely
because of the region’s remoteness.
Shikahogh’s director, Ruben Mkrtchian, said the government dispatched
construction machinery towards the reserve this spring. But Mkrtchian
says that following appeals by him, his colleagues and the local
office of the World Wildlife Fund, the government did not press ahead
with delivery of the equipment.
Opponents of the plan then appealed to the president of Armenia, the
chairman of the National Assembly and the prosecutor general,
demanding the project through Shikahogh be scrapped. Some in Armenia
say influential Diaspora figures lobbied extensively and met with
President Robert Kocharian in an effort to overturn the decision to
build the road.
The president of the Armenian Forests NGO, Jeffrey Tufenkian, told
IWPR, `Yes, we believe this is a great precedent. We would like to
see the continuation of this kind of involvement by NGOs,
international organisations, the Diaspora and the general public. If
this kind of public participation continues, Armenia will have a
great future.’
But Tufenkian said it remained to be seen whether the decision to
cancel the road project through the reserve was part of a larger
trend.
`We are certainly glad that the highway will avoid the major part of
the reserve, but we are still concerned that the processes seem to be
happening in an illegal manner,’ said Tufenkian. `For such major
projects the government is required by Armenian law to carry out
proper environmental impact assessments. They are also required to
analyse different possible routes, and they are also required to hold
public hearings. When they took the decision about this new route,
they seemed to be doing none of this.’
Arevhat Grigorian is a correspondent for the newspaper website Hetq
in Yerevan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress