Over 8,000 pine trees have completely dried up in "Sevan" National Park, as Voskehat Grigoryan, Head of Specially Protected Areas and Biodiversity Policy Department of Environment Ministry, said this at the discussion organized at Environment Ministry. "Drying has reached a great pace. There are 8269 completely dry pine trees in the park. There are also a large number of drying trees. There are more, but an assessment has not yet been made as these trees are still viable. In 2017 there were 700 dead trees, in 2019 almost twice as many. The volumes and numbers of infected trees are increasing, the problem is that we are losing time," xhe said.
The discussion of the problems related to the disease of unknown origin found near the pine (forest) trees in Akhtamar section of Sevan branch of "Sevan National Park" SNCO was organized by the initiative of Deputy Minister Aram Meimaryan. The representatives of Environment Ministry, "ArmForest" SNCO, "Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center" SNCO, "Sevan National Park" SNCO, Environmental Protection and Mining Inspection Body, Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA and "EcoLur" Informational NGO took part in this meeting. During the meeting, the options for solving the problem, the steps to isolate the foci and the methods of using the means of effective fight against the disease were discussed.
Months ago, the specialists from Entomology Laboratory of Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA visited Sevan National Park, made a field visit to the forested areas of the national park, and took test samples from infected foci, tree trunks and soil, which were studied in German and Russian laboratories.
"The study documented the presence of nematode disease in that area. The conclusion mentions it as the most dangerous disease, the key pest is the nematode, which is spread by beetles," Voskehat Grigoryan said. Mark Kalashyan, Head of Entomology and Soil Zoology Laboratory of Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA noted that the nematode may be the cause of drying, but they do not have a clear conclusion.
Taron Manukyan, Head of Reforestation, Afforestation and Protection Department of "ArmForest" SNCO, noted that drying was also observed in other regions of Armenia.
Mark Kalashyan mentioned an interesting pattern. "Beetles and nematodes do not appear on young trees bark." Sasun Galstyan, Chief Forester of "Sevan National Park" SNCO, also noted that the newly reproduced species are not infected with the disease. The specialist sees the solution to the problem in the creation of mineralization layers in the soil for the reproduction of the pine species.
At the end of the meeting, an agreement was reached to once again send the materials collected as a result of the discussions to the National Academy of Sciences in order to get another point of view, as well as to develop a clear road map and an action plan.
June 16, 2023 at 18:01