Heavy rains and floods of recent months have destroyed the roads leading to the remote pastures and grasslands of Yeghegnut village. Back in the fall of 2023 renovation works of the ten-kilometer-long field road started in Yeghegnut through the support of “Promotion of Eco-Corridors in the Southern Caucasus"-II project implemented by WWF-Armenia. In the spring of 2024, within the framework of "Living Landscapes for Market Development in Armenia" (LILA) project, the works continued, so that the road became accessible even for passenger cars. However, the accomplished works were literally "washed away" by destructive mudslides and the resulting floods at the end of May: impassable potholes were formed, certain parts of the road were washed away, some sections were blocked by landslides.
Aramayis Hakobyan, the President of community-based "Qoshaqar" social-environmental NGO, is sharing his concerns about the future of the village. "There is a custom among the residents of the village: every year, before pasture and hay-harvest season, we all gather to renovate the road. But the nature does not allow the roads to remain well maintained. Precipitation is common in Lori, that’s why there are many floods and landslides happening. Newly repaired roads were destroyed, there were places where mudslides blocked it, there were places where landslides were falling into valleys, nothing remained from the work we did.”
Hakobyan attributes this year's weather anomalies to the changing climate. According to him, climate change exerts a negative impact on agriculture. "You can't cultivate the land or mow at times. Hailstorms have become frequent, floods soak the ground, which causes landslides. In conditions of high humidity, the mature grass settles down, and grass grows from underneath, which makes the mowing difficult.
According to Aramais Hakobyan, climate change also affects beekeeping. "If the year is abundant with precipitation, rains fall at night during the harvest, and there is the sun during the day, the harvest is prolonged and plentiful. And if it doesn't rain at night, it rains during the day, the rains wash away the nectar and pollen, the bee can't harvest it. This year, the linden began to bloom, there was a very good harvest, then hail came from half of the harvest, the bees could not use even the half of the linden harvest," he complained.
Aramayis Hakobyan is sure that the activities of their organization will restore the broken connection between the nature and people. The NGO was established to promote establishment and maintenance of ecological corridors in the community. In June 2024, a long-term agreement was signed between WWF Armenia, Pambak community and "Qoshaqar" community-based social-environmental NGO in Yeghegnut settlement.
With the signing of this agreement, community-conserved area will be established in the area of 7938 hectares of Pambak consolidated community. Of them 1700 hectares will be in the area of Qoshaqar Mountain in Yeghegnut. In this area, 3 caretakers must monitor the conservation of biodiversity and ensure that the use of natural resources is sustainable, according to management plans.
"We have eco-corridors that coincide with our mountains. We are obliged to monitor the movement of wild animals, vegetation, waters, everything related to nature. Our organization is for the future generations to come. In the past, we used to destroy the nature by cutting down trees and poaching. Since there was no source of income in the villages and the forests were abundant in our country, the villagers had to cut down the forests, it was a loss for us and the state, but it was the only means of livelihood. Now it is in past: no more illegal logging. We have a lush regrowth, an increase in the number of animals, goats and bears.
The yield of berries also increased: we have blackberries, gooseberries, currants, rosehips, hawthorns, even blueberries in the mountains. Now our only danger is wildfires. If we urge our villagers not to light bonfires, to put them out, we will have a good result. We hope that in the coming years, thanks to our organization, we will participate in nature conservation in a more active way and the number of species will increase in nature."
“Promotion of Eco-Corridors in the Southern Caucasus"-II project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of the Federal Republic of Germany through KfW Bank.
"Living Landscapes for Market Development in Armenia" (LILA) is a seven-year project financed by the Swiss Government through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and is implemented by the Caucasian and Armenian offices of WWF in cooperation with "Strategic Development Agency" (SDA) NGO.
August 14, 2024 at 12:21