YEREVAN. – We are on the way to losing Sevan. Environmentalist Karine Danielyan, who is also President of the "For Sustainable Human Development" NGO of Armenia, said this Tuesday during a meeting with journalists, talking about the “flourishing” of Lake Sevan.
"The lake is turning into a swamp," said the ecologist, adding that by losing the lake, we are also losing Armenia.
She noted that in 2017 and 2018, there was a negative balance in connection with Lake Sevan; that is, instead of rising, the water level of the lake fell, which is a blow to it. "The ‘flourishing’ shows that the swamping process has intensified.
[But] in this regard, there is a positive thing that a huge project has been developed with the support of the European Union, which all the data on Sevan, the catchment area collected. Everything is given in detail as to what to do, how to do it."
The environmentalist noted that this project will be launched in 2021. But according to her, it is necessary to create a fund to save Lake Sevan. "However, we should not waste time and wait for 2021. It is necessary to engage in cleaning Sevan as soon as possible because if we add—to the many problems that have arisen—the problem of Amulsar [gold mine project], the blow that the lake shall suffer, there will be enormous damage. No matter how much they say they will use new technologies, the problem is that the mine is so special that it’s all the same; the risk exists, whatever technology they use," she said.
Karine Danielyan added that it is incomprehensible to her that despite such low gold reserves at Amulsar, they want to operate a mine in that area. "The peculiarity is that when the water touches the mine, that sulfide drainage will immediately begin to form; the acidic substances that will reach Lake Sevan one way or another. This is a blow that simply cannot be allowed to reach Sevan," the environmentalist added.