GROUP RAISES MONEY TO PLAN TREES IN ARMENIA

MetroWest Daily News
Sept 21 2009
MA

SHERBORN — .About 150 supporters turned out yesterday to help the
Armenia Tree Project celebrate 15 years of planting trees in the
increasingly-bare forests, cities and villages of Armenia, a country
which has seen vast deterioration of its plant life over the last
century.

"This is an incredible project," said U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern,
D-3rd, who spoke at the event on Cider Hill Lane. "The Armenian Tree
Project really does represent hope. It is amazing what you have done."

The non-profit organization, founded in 1994, works to reforest
Armenia, which has lost a many of its trees to impoverished residents
burning the wood to keep warm since the fall of the Soviet Union,
as well as massive deforestation efforts.

Over its 15-year life, the group has helped plant 3 million trees
and created 500 seasonal jobs growing and tending the trees.

"What this project both brings and symbolizes is a belief in hope,"
said Carolyn Mugar, who founded the program in 1994 with her late
husband, John O’Connor. "You can’t plant a tree if you don’t have
hope."

The organization’s Web site states that forests and tree cover
make up about eight percent of the territory in Armenia, down from
25 percent at the turn of the 20th century. The group claims that if
trees continue to be cut at the current rate – 750,000 cubic meters of
wood annually – the country could turn into a desert within 50 years.

The site also states that 70 percent of the wood cut in Armenia is
being used for cooking and heating because alternative fuels are
unavailable.

With a staff of 80 employees working in offices in Watertown and
Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the project has picked up steam in
recent years. While the program started by planting large trees in
the country’s capital, it soon spread into more rural areas, where
the organization could work on a larger scale and plant seedlings.

To maintain momentum, the project has set an ambitious goal for this
year, aiming to plant one million trees in the country.

The organization pays 400 families to grow the trees from seedlings, in
many cases doubling the families’ annual income, said Deputy Director
Jason Sohigian. In addition, many of the trees planted have been fruit
trees, allowing Armenians to harvest and sell the fruit at market.

McGovern said that due to the large population of Armenians in his
district, the project struck a chord in him.

"I represent one of the oldest Armenian communities in the country,"
he said, noting that the first Armenian church in the country –
The Armenian Church of Our Savior – was built in Worcester.

"The Armenian community has educated me not only on Armenia, but on
the issue of human rights," he said. "I feel blessed that I have this
incredible group of teachers in my district."

Because of the economy, Sohigian said the event yesterday was small
compared to previous years, although he still called it a hit.

"I think it’s great. It’s a huge success," he said. "It’s really
intended to honor the people who have been supporting us for the last
15 years."

Gail O’Reilly, the founder of Made in Armenia Direct, a company which
imports products produced by Armenian artisans and sells them either
online or to stores, has known Mugar for many years and said she was
thrilled with yesterday’s event.

"It makes me feel incredibly happy for the Armenian Tree Project. It
makes me feel incredibly happy that this many people are here," she
said. "We have people from every different walk of life and this is
a common denominator for all of them."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress