NEW THREAT ON THE HORIZON
by Jeff Masarjian

Transitions on Line, Czech Rep.
June 27 2007

Armenian conservationists fear a northern copper mine will lead to
further ecological degradation.

Armenia is located in the southern Caucasus, at the convergence of
three major bio-geographic regions, and has within it seven of the
world’s nine climate zones. Although it is a small country of 29,000
square kilometers, it is home to 40 percent of all landscape types
found in the Northern Hemisphere.

But the mountainous country with its once-abundant forests is also
home to sought-after resources, including gold, copper, and timber.

War, poverty, and economic isolation have created conflict between
efforts to protect the nation’s ecological wealth with the need to
create jobs.

Armenia’s enormous biological diversity includes 8,800 plant species,
half of which are at risk of extinction; 13 species and 360 varieties
of wheat, which was first cultivated there 10,000 years ago; 260
species of trees and bushes; 17,500 invertebrate and 500 vertebrate
species of animals, of which 346 species are birds; and one-third
of the 156 reptile species found in the former Soviet Union. Of the
500 vertebrate species, 300 are rare or declining, and 18 are at risk
of extinction. Many of these species are in peril due to the effects
of deforestation.

In 1900, 25 percent of Armenia was covered with forests. After the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the regional conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh led to an economic blockade of the country which
prevented the import of heating and cooking fuel. The widescale cutting
of trees for fuel during the next several years left the Armenia with
approximately 12 percent forest cover.

The Armenian government is considering a request to turn part of the
pristine Teghut forest into a copper mine.

Today, according to government statistics, forests now cover
approximately 11 percent of the land surface of Armenia, while
others have estimated forest cover at less than 8 percent. The United
Nations has reported that 80 percent of Armenia is at risk of becoming
desert. The loss of the forests is caused by poverty and unemployment,
a lack of alternate fuel sources, legal and illegal cutting and export
of wood, and improper management.

NEED FOR JOBS

In Armenia, as in many developing countries, people often think that
short-term economic opportunities should take priority over long-term
environmental considerations. A case in point is Teghut, an agrarian
village (population 850), located in a mountainous region more than
200 kilometers north of Yerevan. Decades ago deposits of copper and
molybdenum ore were identified lying deep in the forested mountains,
but were never exploited.

An international company called the Armenian Copper Program (ACP)
is seeking final approval by the government to begin the process of
clear-cutting over 600 hectares of forests on the mountain. Although
the company has offered to replant trees in other areas of Armenia,
small saplings can never replace the habitats and ecosystems that
will be destroyed in Teghut, or the plants and animals that will
surely perish if the mine proceeds.

The company plans to create an open-pit strip mine to remove the ore,
which is estimated to consist of 2 percent of all the soil which will
be removed. The waste from the chemical processing of the soil will
be deposited into a new tailing dump in a nearby pristine gorge. As
evidenced by other copper tailing dumps in Armenia, such as the one in
another northern village, Aghtala, toxic chemicals and heavy metals
from the dump will leach into the soil and ground water, eventually
finding their way into nearby rivers and creating a permanent death
zone in the area.

Forests perform important environmental and socioeconomic functions,
and when they disappear, long-term consequences result, such as
erosion, flooding and landslides, climate extremes, loss of water
supply, reduction of topsoil fertility, loss of plant and animal
biodiversity, and severe air pollution. The harsh reality is that
all of Armenia’s forests may be gone in as little as 20 years at the
current rate of deforestation, leading to irreversible environmental
damage.

PRESSURE ON PRESIDENT

Recently, 26 organizations in Armenia formed the SOS Teghut
Coalition to raise public awareness and lobby government officials
to reconsider what appears to be a likely and final approval of
ACP’s mining plans. Many of the local residents, who struggle with
grinding poverty, are understandably in favor of the mining project
because of the jobs it will bring, despite the permanent damage that
will be wrought upon their land and the health of their families –
and others in neighboring regions.

The Armenian government does not have a good track record of protecting
the environment from exploitation by special interests.

There is rampant illegal logging for both domestic commercial use and
foreign export, which operates under the cloak of legally purchased
sanitary cutting permits to remove dead or diseased timber. Large
areas of publicly owned park land in Yerevan have been leased to
individuals who cut down trees and build outdoor cafes.

Despite this, conservationists are hopeful that the government will
respond positively to public opinion on the issue. In 2005, many of
the same organizations involved in SOS Teghut was formed to save the
Shikahogh Nature Reserve in southern Armenia from the government’s
plans to build a highway through it. Shortly after hundreds of e-mails
were sent to President Robert Kocharian by individuals from around
the world, the government changed the route of the highway and left
the integrity of the reserve intact.

The Teghut coalition, of which my organization is a member, is using a
similar strategy to encourage the government to pursue an alternative
form of sustainable economic development for the area.

Within five days of the coalition’s call to supporters to e-mail the
president and other government officials requesting that the forest be
declared a permanent nature reserve, more than 1,000 messages went out.

Time is quickly running out for Armenia’s environment. Jobs and
economic development are a necessity, but a long-term, balanced
perspective is needed to ensure that the best interests of the
public and the nation are best served. It is the responsibility
of any government to provide stewardship of a nation’s natural
resources and protect the land and public health, while encouraging
sustainable development. We are hopeful that Armenia, with support
and encouragement from the global community, will do just that.

Jeff Masarjian is executive director of the Armenia Tree Project,
an association with offices in Yerevan and Watertown, Massachusetts.