NINETY-NINE ANIMALS AND 386 PLANTS IN ARMENIA’S RED BOOK

Panorama.am
19:31 17/09/2007

As of today, Armenia’s Red Book contains 99 animals and 386 kinds
of plants. Tatyana Danielyan, head of the water preservation and
animal preservation department of the ministry of nature preservation,
relayed this to a panorama.am journalist during an interview. According
to Danielyan, the study going on now has the purpose of finding out
the number of plants and animals in the country. "The results of the
study will be published in two years in the new Red Book," she said.

There are now several protected areas, where extinct or nearly extinct
animals are being looked over and protected, according to specific
routines. "If there is a certain breed listed in the book, its hunting
or exploitation will be prohibited," Danielyan said. We note that
there are eight different levels of protected zones in Armenia today.

According to Nellie Hovhannisyan, of the biology department of YSU,
the reasons for the disappearance of animals and plants are the
activities of man, loss of forest area, populating new areas, and
changes in climate and soil conditions. The professor is convinced
that to put a stop to this process a limit has to be put on man’s
activities, as well as prohibit the exploitation of certain lands.

Hovhannisyan sadly points out that there are plants endemic to the
region that are included in the new list. "Listing of these types of
plants as extinct or nearly extinct is done according to international
standards, at a 0-4 rating system," she said. Reaching four, a species
is considered extinct or on the verge of extinction. "There are
species in Armenia that we see no possibility of reviving," she said.