9% OF ARMENIAN HOUSEHOLDS STILL USE WOOD AS FUEL FOR HEATING AND FOOD MAKING
Noyan Tapan
Jun 27 2007
YEREVAN, JUNE 27, NOYAN TAPAN. The report-manual "Economic Study of
Armenia’s Forest and Woodworking Sector" contains information about
wood consumption, cash flows in the woodworking sector, exports
of wood and finished articles made of wood, as well as the current
environmental protection problems. Manuk Hergnian, representative
of the research center "Economy and Values" said at the June 27
presentation of the manual that studies showed that 9% of Armenian
households still use wood as fuel for heating and food making.
According to him, the annual amount of wood used by over 300 small
and medium-size woodworking enterprises is ten times as much as
the amount envisaged by state norms. The revenues of the Armenian
woodworking sector, including revenues from the export of expensive
wood, amount to 132 million dollars a year.
In the words of Jeffrey Tufenkian, the chairman of "Armenian Forests"
NGO, the report throws light on one of the most obsure sectors of the
Armenian economy. He considered the manual as an excellent basis from
shifting from deforestation to forest restoration in the country.
Janet Clozer, OSCE Armenia Office executive on economic and
environmental protection issues, presented the position of
international organizations on this issue, noting that their objective
is to assist the Armenian authorities and public with sustainable
forest management. According to her, increasing the awareness and the
creation of national capacities represent important steps in order
to prevent illegal tree cutting and to restore the environmental
protection and economic values of Armenian forests.
The British Charge d’Affaires in Armenia Richard Hyde also expressed a
willingness to assist with the implementation of this initiative. He
expressed a hope that the above mentioned report will launch a
process to help preserve Armenian forests for the present and future
generations.
According to the proposals presented in the report, the problem of
deforestation should be solved through such measures as provision of
gas supply to border villages, use of microcredits to cover preliminary
costs of gas supply, imposing a ban on the export of building wood
from Armenia, use of alternative energy resources, and development
of ecotourism.