Armenia Tree Project
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PRESS RELEASE
June 25, 2007
Armenia Tree Project Distributes Action Alert to Save Teghut Forest
The village of Teghut, with its acres of virgin forest and rich ecosystem in
northern Armenia, is home to hundreds of species of birds, mammals,
reptiles, fish, and plants, including many that are registered in the
International Red Book of Endangered Species.
Armenian Copper Program (ACP) has plans to clear-cut 1,500 acres of this
forest in order to establish an open pit strip mining operation for copper
and molybdenum ore. In addition, ACP plans to create a `tailing dump’ in a
nearby gorge, where heavy metals and other toxins from mining waste will
leach into the ground and into the river flowing through the gorge,
ultimately contaminating the water supply.
Two years ago, Armenia Tree Project (ATP) and a number of organizations and
individuals worked together to save the Shikahogh Nature Reserve in southern
Armenia from destruction, and now the organization is joining
environmentalists and friends in Armenia and in the Diaspora to save Teghut
Forest.
On June 20, ATP issued an action alert by email to thousands of its
supporters and colleagues, urging them to send letters to President Robert
Kocharian to convince him to protect this national treasure from destruction
at the hands of a mining company.
`What do we know about Armenian Copper Program’s track record? ACP owns the
Alaverdi Smelter, which processes copper ore for a consortium of mining
companies in the region,’ states ATP Executive Director Jeff Masarjian in
the appeal. `The Alaverdi smelter, notorious for belching tens of thousands
of tons of sulfur oxides annually into the atmosphere, is having disastrous
effects on the health and well-being of the local population.’
Since the smelter’s re-opening in the late 1990’s, the town of Alaverdi has
seen a dramatic increase in the number of reported cases of respiratory
disease, sterility, and birth defects. The smelter has no emission controls,
and the company claims to be unable to afford the cost of installing them.
ACP’s initial plans for developing and exploiting the Teghut mine have
received approval by the Ministry of Nature Protection, despite the fact
that they will destroy one of Armenia’s most treasured landscapes and clear
cut a forest in a nation with less than eight percent forest cover.
`ATP is a member of SOS Teghut, a consortium of 26 organizations that
supports the need for sustainable economic development in the country, but
opposes development that will leave the land permanently degraded and
poisoned,’ continues Masarjian. `ACP claims that the government will receive
$8 million per year in taxes and payments in return for the right to exploit
this mine. But are we to allow Armenia’s precious forest to be destroyed,
the surrounding rivers and springs to be contaminated, and the agricultural
lands adjacent to the mine to be poisoned for short-term economic gains?’
`Rather than destroy the Teghut Forest, we propose that it be made into a
Nature Reserve as part of a concerted effort to develop sustainable tourism
in the valley. Tourism is a sustainable form of economic development that
benefits the local population without causing permanent damage to the
environment. Teghut could attract people from around the world who want to
see the rich landscape, biodiversity, and cultural heritage that is unique
to this area,’ concludes Masarjian in the appeal.
To view the action alert or send a letter to President Kocharian urging him
to protect Teghut Forest, visit the Armenia Tree Project web site at
PHOTO CAPTION: An action alert opposes a strip mining project that will
result in the loss of 1,500 acres of Teghut Forest and the creation of a
`tailing dump’ where toxins from mining waste will leach into the river
flowing through the gorge, leading to the type of contamination seen in
Akhtala, where a 13th century church stands above the leaking copper tailing
dump
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
