EcoLur
On May 30 the board meeting of Agriculture Ministry was held at the ministry devoted to the situation in forest sector. The meeting was headed by Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetyan. Besides the board members, public representatives also took part in it such as Nazeli Vardanyan (‘Forests of Armenia’ NGO), Hranush Kharatyan (“Khazerashen” NGO), Hakob Sanasaryan (Greens Union in Armenia), and Inga Zarafyan (EcoLur).
In his speech “ArmForest” SNCO Director Martoun Matevosyan presented the problems of forest sector and proposals for improving forest management. The proposals had a tendency to strengthening the role of this institution and to giving it higher status, dividing function of forest management and protect, increase in funding etc. Proposals were made to toughen punishments for timber transportation. Martoun Matevosyan also touched upon the situation with near-forest communities. Under him, deadwood which is residual stock, and as a matter of fact, litters forest territory, may make up almost 240,000 cubic meters per year (if to count officially stated forest-covered territory, it makes up one cubic meter for one ha). This means communities can be supplied with deadwood by using forest as fuel at the expense of deadwood and whether this will be free of charge? The problem is that community residents have to pay for deadwood as well, 1200 AMD for one square meter, and have to collect is in almost unattainable places or to hire people. Firewood is almost the only affordable energy resource for communities as compared with other fuels such as gas or electricity. “Khazarashen” NGO Head Hranush Kharatyan said: “People assume to do the work they should get paid for, as they clean forest, meanwhile they are requires paying for that, who can explain this?” she asked.
ArmForest doesn’t oppose to amendments in payments for deadwood, but at whose expense? As it is known, forest sector funding has drastically been reduced recently, while underfunding of the forest sector in the budget has made up 30%. ArmForest is proposed to get insufficient money by selling timber. Even a non-specialist clearly understands it’s not suitable for ArmForest interests.
ArmForest thinks that current funding doesn’t allow improving this situation. “In order to finish all this and to proceed to sustainable nature management, the state must take a loan. There is the program adopted by the government and it’s worth 59 million USD which should include everything in it,” said “ArmForest” SNCO Chief Forestry Officer Ruben Petrosyan in his interview with EcoLur, “the program should be comprehensive and not be solved in small parts when, what and who will give,” he said.
When EcoLur asked what the guarantees are that forest will be protected from elimination, Petrosyan said, “Guarantees are as follows: certain problems should be solved for forest preservation that refer not only to forest. First of all, we speak about supplying people with energy resources, social programs should be conducted in near-forest communities and many other things.”
“Forests of Armenia” NGO Director Nazeli Vardanyan thinks reforms are needed. She supports full funding of ArmForest from the state budget, increasing the status of ArmForest from SNCO to ministry, dividing functions of nature management and use, unified forest fund, including specially protected territories, increase in forestry officer’s rights and giving them permit to carry guns, and introducing single control service. She opposed to changing the category of land areas in the forest fund and any felling in border forests.
June 01, 2011 at 14:24