CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENT RAISES AWARENESS IN ARMENIA

Asbarez
Jul 21st, 2009

An ACE staff member surveying a villager outside their home as part
of her data collection for the White Stork Project.

Sarkis Acopian, a successful Armenian-American entrepreneur who first
started his power supply business, Acopian Technical Company, in 1957,
was a philanthropist who believed in supporting the community quietly
but with unmatched generosity. Today, the Acopian name is synonymous
with several world- class educational facilities, including the Acopian
Engineering Center at Lafayette College, in Easton, Pennsylvania, the
Acopian Center for Ornithology at Muhlenberg College, in Allentown,
Pennsylvania, and the Acopian Center for Conservation Learning at
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. Acopian also
established endowments for leadership at the American University of
Armenia (AUA) in Yerevan, Lafayette College, and Florida Institute
of Technology, in Melbourne, Florida.

A global and progressive thinker, Mr. Acopian wanted to make a
lasting impact in Armenia, as well. Not satisfied with just monetary
contributions, he initiated an informed environmental movement in the
country using a two-pronged approach to attain his goal, beginning
in 1992.

First, he established a department at the American University in
Armenia to promote environmental conservation through research,
education, and public involvement. Today, this internation ally
recognized, award-winning department is known as the Acopian Center for
the Environment (ACE). In addition to providing specialization within
the field of conservation, the American University of Armenia requires
all of its students to take at least one course in Environmental
Studies before graduating. Acopian believed that by providing an
educational facility that promoted conservation and environmental
awareness, the citizenry of Armenia, especially the younger generation,
would begin to appreciate their natural resources and encourage others
to also protect Armenia’s biodiversity.

HRH The Princess Royal (Princess Anne) awarded Dr. Karen Aghababyan,
ACE Director, with the Whitley Award of Nature; Britain’s highest
conservation award for his research on the White Stork Project.

Second, he created and spearheaded the Birds of Armenia Project
(BOA); assembling a team of ornithologists from around the world to
work on a field guide to birds of Armenia. His goal was to promote
conservation awareness in Armenia and introduce her rich natural
treasures to the world.

BOA has since published three important works: A Field Guide to Birds
of Armenia (1997), (in Armenian, 1999), a reference map of Armenia
(1999), and The Handbook of the Birds of Armenia (1999), all of
which were published at a time when the newly Independent Republic
of Armenia needed to thrive on its own.

Sarkis’s son, Jeff and his w ife Helen, have been a vital part
of the family’s mission of promoting environmental conservation
in Armenia since the inception of the Birds of Armenia Project
in 1992. "The field guide was the beginning of an awakening for
Armenians to realize what they had and for people outside Armenia to
learn what Armenia had." Supporting Acopian’s claim is Frank Gill,
the VP of the National Audubon Society who praised A Field Guide to
Birds of Armenia as "…clearly and effectively documenting the bird
life of a region largely unknown in the West, but richly endowed with
biological and cultural diversity. Here an international team of expert
ornithologists shines the international spotlight on the fascinating
birds of Armenia in one of the world’s … very best regional field
guides." The field guide now serves to introduce both Armenians and
international birders to the bird life of Armenia-an initial step in
better protecting this portion of the country’s biological heritage.

Why Now?

Situated in the Caucuses region, Armenia is home to a multitude of
habitats and species that are quickly disappearing, becoming extinct
or migrating to Turkey and other neighboring countries because of
deforestation, overhunting, wetland drainage and pollution. Acopian
believes that, "People don’t realize that if we do nothing, Armenia’s
natural resources will be=2 0permanently depleted. Unfortunately,
planting trees won’t revive natural forest systems that are being
destroyed, and in a few years, environmental preservation in Armenia
will be a lost cause. We can only be ultimately successful if the youth
join our fight for environmental awareness." The Acopians reached out
to their nephew, Alex Karapetian, for his experience and ties to the
Armenian-American youth.

Originally from Los Angeles, California, Karapetian who is 27, has
always remained active in the Armenian community. He later moved to
the East Coast where he worked as the Assistant Grassroots Director
at the Armenian Assembly of America in Washington, D.C and managed
their annual summer internship program. He has also assumed a similar
leadership position at his alma mater, Lafayette College, where
he serves as his alumni class President and the Chair of the Young
Alumni Committee. In both positions, Karapetian is responsible for
motivating his peers to be actively involved in Lafayette’s community
through participation and outreach. Upon joining his uncle at Acopian
Technical Company, Karapetian was awakened to the urgent need for
action to safeguard Armenia’s unique natural areas.

"We Armenians have strong roots and my generation needs to come
together for this great and urgent cause to preserve our homeland’s
natural resources," says Karapetian.

Acopian Engineering Cent er Dedication at Lafayette College in
Easton, PA.

On Thursday, July 30, the Acopian family will be sponsoring an event,
"Cheers to Conservation," hosted by the YPGNY at the AGBU headquarters
in New York City. This event is to encourage public involvement for
conservation in Armenia and is targeted towards the young professionals
in the tri-state area. Many non-Armenian professionals will also
be in attendance. Karapetian believes that, "The current lack of
environmental preservation in Armenia isn’t just an Armenian issue,
it’s a global issue and everyone should be involved."

Dr. Keith Bildstein, the Sarkis Acopian Director of Conservation
Science at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the home of the Acopian Center for
Conservation Learning, describes Mr. Acopian’s global conservation
impact thusly: "Sarkis had the twin gifts of recognizing meaningful
conservation actions, and supporting conservation organizations that
wanted to achieve them. At my organization, the Acopian Center’s unique
international internship program has trained more than 300 promising
young conservationists from 58 countries on six continents, including
three Armenians. This new generation of conservationists is now helping
to protect bird life globally. Quite literally, Mr. Acopian’s informed
giving has made all the difference in the world."

Today, the Acopian Center for the Environment sponsors many edu
cational programs for the youth. One program in particular is a
conservation education competition called "Birds in my Backyard"
that encourages schoolchildren to build birdfeeders, observe the
birds, and take a photo or draw a picture of a bird that comes to
the feeder. This competition also puts special emphasis on the youth
and children’s participation in discussing current environmental
challenges in the region.

In May 2007, Her Royal Highness Princess Anne of Great Britain and
Sir David Attenborough awarded Dr. Karen Aghababyan, ACE Director,
with the Whitley Award of Nature, Britain’s highest conservation
award, for his research on the White Stork Project. The White Stork
Project, another educational outreach program through the ACE,
requires the participation of Armenian villagers throughout the
country. The project focuses on using the very common and abundant
white stork as a potential bio-indicator of environmental changes in
Armenia. The study of the migration patterns and reproductive ecology
of white storks can measure the potential impact of climate change and
increased pesticide/herbicide use in Armenia. The project is unique
because it uses villagers as citizen scientists or "nest neighbors"
in the data collection process. Their involvement with the research
gives them a better understanding of wildlife ecology and improves
the relationship between people and nesting storks.0D

In sum, what started as a grand vision has turned into an even grander
reality for an Armenian-American industrialist whose passion for the
environment has enhanced environmental understanding and conservation,
not only in Armenia but elsewhere across the globe. Although he is no
longer with us, Sarkis Acopian’s mission of promoting conservation
awareness among the citizenry of Armenia and the diaspora is being
continued at the Acopian Center for the Environment.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress