Gagik Aghbalyan, the Hraparak
“This year struggle against illegal felling has enhanced.” This statement was made by “EcoLur” NGO President Inga Zarafyan at the meeting in Ijevan held in the frames of WNPI FLEG.
…International experts determine the state of forests in Armenia as disastrous. According to Inga Zarafyan, official and non-official data about felling and forest-covered territories significantly differ. If the official data refer to 11.2% known since 1192, according to the results of space studies, the forest cover in 2006 made up 7-8%...
Under “ArmForest” NGO Director and Lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan, “forests are national property which is stolen, while the funds (from illegal felling) don’t go to the state budget, but to the pockets of several officials.”
“If to impose a ban on felling, to eliminate business from forest sector and to allow indigent families not to purchase timber but to allocate them pursuant to a special program, maybe we’ll succeed in saving the forests,” environmentalists say.
October 13, 2010