Armenian government proposes "to legalize deforestation within the  framework of expedient  logic"

ArmInfo.Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan at a government meeting on October 19 urged the members of the Cabinet to think over the provision of free dams  to the residents of the forested communities in order to reduce the amount of illegal deforestation.

According to the Prime Minister, within the framework of the  previously announced instruction, a concept will soon be presented to  the government court aimed at improving the efficiency of forest  management and conservation in Armenia.  At the same time, as the  head of government noted, the study of the sphere revealed a number  of problems.  It turned out that measures of criminal and  administrative responsibility for illegal tree cutting do not  contribute to the prevention of these violations. It was also found  out that during the last few years the volumes of timber supplies  have decreased threefold.

Taking into account the urgency of these tasks, the Prime Minister  instructed the heads of the ministries of nature protection Artsvik  Minasyan, agriculture Ignaty Arakelyan, territorial management and  development David Lokyan should provide residents of valleys with  fallen trees, giving priority to socially disadvantaged groups of the  population. Karen Karapetyan also instructed in 10 days to submit to  the government apparatus analysis on the required volume of wood  supplies.

At the same time, he instructed the heads of the responsible  departments to submit in 2 months a draft of legal acts aimed at  strengthening the responsibility for illegal deforestation. "We must  carry out reforms and, within the framework of the logic, legalize  deforestation, and send financial receipts to" ArmLes "in order to  provide them with everything necessary to carry out the strictest  monitoring of the process," the Prime Minister explained. It should  be noted that the fight against illegal deforestation of Armenia has  become an urgent task of the government. 

The last major state of emergency was recorded recently - on October  13 a group of people entered the territory of the Shamakhi section of  the Dilijan National Park. As press secretary of the Ministry of  Nature Protection Marina Karapetyan informed, they set fire to one of  the security points of Panther Security Ltd.  and applied violence  against his employee. Investigators continue to search for people who  attacked security officers in the Dilijan National Park and set fire  to their lodge. According to some reports, the attack on the staff of  the Panther Securitry security service and arson was organized by  residents of nearby villages, dissatisfied with the fact that they  can not cut trees in the Dilijan forest because of increased control.  Moreover, about a month ago, residents of the village of Haghartsin  expressed their discontent with the situation, blocking a section of  the highway that passes through their village, demanding that trees  be cut in the forest to meet their needs.