Ruben Grdzelyan, Golos Armenii

* Pine forest or garbage dump?
* Given to Voghchaberd, but not to Jrvezh. Why?
* The Ministry of Nature Protection listens and keeps silent, as always.

Here natural and artificial landscapes are surprisingly combined, and near two dozens species of red booked representatives of fauna live here: rare species of juniper, coniferous species of trees, flowers and bushes. 

"Jrvezh" Forest Park was founded in 1977 to protect Yerevan from the winds blowing from the northern semi-desert territories that covered the capital with dust. At that time, an artificial forest park was founded on 400 ha, which is situated in the protected zone under the charge of the Ministry of Nature Protection of RA. 

HAVING SURVIVED IN THE YEARS OF COLD AND COLLAPSE, AND AT THOSE HARD TIMES NOT HAVING LOST even a tree, partial destruction is now threatening to the park. In 2007 the territory of the forest park was mapped. As it turned out, its territory is not 400 ha, but 423 ha. The "mistake" was corrected very quickly: they just removed "extra" hectares from the map. And this titbit was not cut from the edge, but from the very centre. In this manner approximately 20 ha of the park territory, mainly covered with pine forest, appeared to be out of law.

"We are not stupid. We know everything. When this crime was committed, the officials asked” Who will be against? They said that only one person will be against who is already at death’s door, i.e. me. Meanwhile the alienation of 20 ha was substantiated by the presence of the garbage dump there," Vladimir Voskanyan said. 

Thus, the signatures of several officials made the pine forest a garbage dump on the paper, which is written off from the forest park assets and given to the community half-dead because of landslips. Soon this 20 ha will be sold at auction to private persons for pennies. These pennies will value 30-year labor of dozens of people.

Read more about this story in Armenian and Russian.