Armine Avagyan, Syunyats Yerkir
Garik Mirzoyan, Director of Kapan Forestry Enterprise, “ArmForest” SNCO of Agriculture Ministry, about the preservation of forest territories, reproduction, forestry enterprise works, issues and current events in forest preservation.
- Mr. Mirzoyan, it’s several months since you have been heading the Kapan Forestry Enterprise. What’s the heritage you received, the working team you lead, how much territory do you control and what are the main functions of the branch?
- The branch functions in a rented building, we have 56 employees, out of which six are forestry officers, 37 – foresters, while 13 employees are involved in engineering and maintenance department. Kapan Forestry Enterprise has a territory of 38,253 ha, out of which 35,082 ha is forest-covered. We have six forest areas – Arajadzor, Kapan, Davitbek, Syunik, Norashenik and Tchakateni.
- What kinds of cases of illegal activities were recorded during your office holding?
- In 2013 we had 13 cases of illegal activities, one of them was sent to Kapan Police division, 12 cases were presented to Syunik Territorial Division of State Environmental Inspection. These cases were cases of illegal tree felling, when 105 trees were felled down. We had nine cases of fire recorded, one occurred in the territory of our forestry enterprise, while the other eight were in community territories. In 2014 we recorded two cases of illegal tree felling (13 trees), the protocols of which we have sent to the State Environmental Inspection. We also have a hunting expert, who regularly makes visits, no poaching case was recorded in this period.
- What kind of privileges do people living near forests have?
- The only privilege they have is that each family in such area (31 villages and near-forest quarters in our forestry enterprise) is entitled to take 8 sq. meters of firewood, i.e. tree branches or naturally fallen trees. When this limit expires, firewood is sold at market prices.
- How much is firewood at present and who falls down trees, you or residents?
- The price for one square meter of firewood is 6480 AMD, it’s the price of the tree standing in the forest. Naturally, this price boosts in the market and fluctuates depending on residential areas, for example, in Kapan the price for one square meter is 11,000-14,000 AMD, 16,000 – 17,000 AMD in Goris and over 20,000 AMD in Yerevan.
- What kind of red-listed tree species are included in the Kapan Forestry enterprise?
- Greek walnut tree, juniper, artificial sycamore, pine tree and taxus, which are on the verge of extinction.
March 13, 2014 at 11:04