EcoLur
On 4 June a signal alarm was circulated on Facebook about the construction works in "Khosrov Forest" State reserve. The statement particularly says, "Now bulldozers are operating on the road leading from Khosrov to Avoustar. We called Nature Protection Ministry via hotline, we were replied, "They may have the permit, but in general we don't know what is going on there etc."
When answering to EcoLur’s question “Khosrov Forest” State reserve director Vorontsov Barseghyan gave the following explanation, “Roads have fire-prevention significance which enable workers to quickly arrive on the spot very rapidly in case of fire. Its length is 1.7 km, which is reconstructed under the plan. Besides this road, we intend to reconstruct other roads as well.”
Activists responded and the director responded. One question is left: why ministry needs hotline, if it practically doesn’t work, while check of alarm signals is carried out through social networks and mass media.
“They are opening a new road in order to give access to large jeeps, but formulate it as “a strategic road and fire-prevention measures”. Mamikon Kasabyan and Lyuba Balyan, Armenian Society of Bird Prtotection, think this initiative has very “long legs”.
July 04, 2012 at 15:43