ARMENIAN BOTANISTS ANGERED OVER "JRVEZH PINE GROVE" TRANSFER

2009/09 /23 | 15:48

The decision of the RoA government to sell off the Crimean pine grove
now located in the Jrvezh Park has provoked the ire of the Armenian
Botanist Society (ABS).

The ABS has dispatched letters to RoA National Assembly President
Hovik Abrahamyan, RoA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Minister
of the Environment Aram Harutyunyan, protesting the confiscation
of some 20 hectares of the grove and allocating the site to the
community of Voghjraberd. The ABS claims that a host of Academy of
Science academicians and PhD. degree holders and candidates support
the protest.

The pine grove was planted some 30 years ago and is an oasis of green
the year-round which elps clean the air around Yerevan.

The government’s recent decision seems to contradict the fact that
the grove is part of a forest park set aside by the Ministry of the
Environment and thus national property.

The ABS calls the government’s attention to this fact, arguing that
the recent decision is a violation of the Environment Ministry’s
jurisdiction of the grove.

"We wish to express our disagreement with the decision that will
hand over this unique pine grove, the result of years of hard work
and tender care, to the community of Voghjraberd. We strongly urge
you to review the decision which, in our estimation, is unwise."