ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
400 W Cummings Park, Suite 3900
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Tel: (617) 926-TREE
Web: www.ArmeniaTree.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lessons from #ForestSummit19
Armenia Tree Project and Agrarian University Initiate New Training Programs to
Develop Much-Needed Specialists
By Jason Sohigian
Speakers on several panels at Forest Summit: Global Action and Armenia
highlighted a common theme that is at once alarming, and a call for proactive
action and resources. This is the lack of specialists in the fields of nursery
management and forestry. Many speakers identified the challenge, and it has been
confirmed by Armenia Tree Project's experience on the ground, in trying to build
the capacity of its nursery and tree planting staff.
This issue is of special importance since Armenia announced its ambitious goal
to double its forest cover by 2050. This will require significant resources in
terms of financing, seedling capacity, and human resources in the form of
trained experts who are familiar with techniques such as tree propagation,
nursery management, site identification, tree planting, and long-term tree care
and management.
The issue was brought to the forefront during the Summit's first panel, in a
discussion about the key challenges and opportunities to increase Armenia's
forest coverage. In addressing some of the gaps, Hovik Sayadyan, technical task
leader at UNDP Armenia, pointed out that there are no institutes for forest
management in Armenia, in particular for forest inventory, afforestation, or
forest management.
Vardan Urutyan, rector at Armenia's National Agrarian University, expanded on
this issue with a number of challenges around forest education. For example,
financial resources are often insufficient for training specialists and there
are few graduates from the Agrarian University. Those who do graduate often
cannot find employment in this sector. He cited the need to improve the
attractiveness and competitiveness of the forestry profession.
Given the challenges, there is an expectation within Armenia that more trained
professionals must be developed in order to succeed in expanding the forest
cover and managing the existing forests.
Dr. Urutyan discussed a number of target areas for the Agrarian University,
including contemporary forest science labs, endowment funds to support forest
education, updated training materials, ongoing education for lecturers, and
incentives to encourage and reward scientific research.
The issue of capacity and shortage of trained professionals was also raised by
Karen Manvelyan, director of WWF Armenia, in a panel on impacts and gaps of
forestry initiatives supported by international organizations. Mr. Manvelyan
pointed out that for organizations that do have specialists on staff, such as
Armenia Tree Project, reforestation and afforestation projects have been
implemented successfully. However in some other cases in Armenia where relevant
specialists were not consulted, the results have been less successful.
"We picked up on this common theme at the Forest Summit, and it is something
that Armenia Tree Project has also noticed when we have job openings or expand
into new program areas," notes Arthur Harutyunyan, ATP's operations manager in
Armenia. "There have been cases where young professionals apply for a job, and
they don't have any real-world experience in a tree nursery, or may even have
difficulty identifying species in a forest. This needs to change, and we are
committed to helping to improve the capacity of professionals in our field."
A new partnership between ATP and the National Agrarian University has emerged
to address this problem. Students at the university will conduct internships and
field research at ATP's nurseries and greenhouses. A pilot program will be held
this year with the support of UNDP.
"Already we have hosted a number of students and professionals at our nurseries
and other locations for training," explains Harutyunyan. "This partnership with
the Agrarian University will expand the program and help us educate a new cadre
of young professionals, as well as people currently working in our field who may
need to learn about the latest techniques and methods."
ATP's facilities and planting locations offer a number of learning
opportunities, including nursery management, greenhouse management, forest
management, urban forestry, and fruit tree production. "Our programs are wide
ranging, from site selection for a new forest to knowing which types of trees
need to be planted at a certain location, or establishing a fruit orchard in a
town," adds Harutyunyan. "We are encouraged by this collaboration and hope it
plays a constructive role in Armenia's goal to expand its forests."
There were many topics identified at the Forest Summit where additional
training, study, and capacity building are needed. These include the need to
study and understand Armenia's biodiversity and the potential impact of invasive
species, creating and implementing sustainable forest management plans, tree
nursery management, and wildfire prevention.
The 30-year reforestation plan will create many job opportunities; creating a
trained workforce to fill those jobs is essential.