KEEPING OF BOTANICAL GARDEN’S UNIQUE PLANTS COLLECTIONS ENDANGERED

Noyan Tapan
Jul 11 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Nearly 500 thousand species of unique
plants created at the 70-year-old Botany Institute of the RA National
Academy of Sciences, considered as an ecoeducational and recreation
institution, are endangered due to lack of funds. Academician Vilen
Hakobian said this at the July 10 general meeting of the Natural
Sciences Department of the RA National Academy of Sciences. In his
words, the above mentioned collections are currently kept at a building
needing repair and which has not been heated for many years.

V. Hakobian said that both the Botanical Garden of Yerevan having
the area of 80 hectares and Garden’s Vanadzor (10 hectares) and Sevan
(5 hectares) branches have problems of irrigation and rubbish disposal.

In his words, the Garden’s greenhouse is also in a sorry
state. Tropical and subtropical plant collections are kept there. "We
also have an apprehension that the only Armenian Botanical Garden
can be turned into a construction site, as some organizations try to
build elite buildings in that territory," V. Hakobian said.

At the meeting, a decision was made to suggest that the presidency
of the RA National Academy of Sciences and the RA Ministry of
Education and Science are applying to the RA government for the
latter to allocate funds to the Botany Institute with the 2008 state
budget. Allocation of that money will enable solving the problems
of restoration of the heating system of the three-storeyed Herbarium
building, keeping of plant collections, irrigation, and further care
for the garden.