Artsvik Minasyan: Do not try to find a dark cat in a dark room,  especially if it is not there

ArmInfo. Minister of Nature Protection of Armenia Artsvik Minasyan urged not to look for a black cat in a dark room, especially if it is not there. "The devotion to  the cause and the organization shown by everyone in the fire fighting  in the forests of Vayots Dzor region and the state reserve "Khosrov  Forest" deserve all praise," Artsvik Minasyan told reporters on  August 24 during a briefing.

As the minister said, answering the question of ArmInfo, in the near  future the management plan of the Khosrov Forest Reserve will be  discussed, which provides for the expansion of the protected nature  reserve boundaries. This will ensure more significant protection of  the territories, as well as provide residents of nearby territories  with an opportunity to receive income from ecotourism in the  territory created around the reserve with a less favorable regime in  comparison with the SNCO. As the minister assured, in spite of the  rumors being rumored, there is no question on the government's agenda  to review both the current, especially protected, status of the state  reserve, and its current physical borders. "In any case, any other  activity in the reserve is excluded than that envisaged by the  current regime," said the head of the Ministry of Nature Protection.

Regarding the restoration of damage, as well as the implementation of  active firefighting measures, according to Artsvik Minasyan, the  Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Nature  Protection of Armenia will sign a grant agreement with the United  Nations Development Program (UNDP) for $ 1 million until September 1.  "A major component of the agreement Concerns the purchase of fire  fighting equipment," Minasyan said. The Khosrov Reserve is a nature  conservation zone in Armenia in the Ararat region in the southern  part of the Geghama mountain range. It was founded in 1958. Occupies  an area of 29 000 hectares in the basins of the Azat and Khosrov  rivers at altitudes of 1 400-2 250 m above sea level. The Khosrov  Forest is located in the Ararat region of Armenia, 61 km southeast of  Yerevan. Most of the reserve covers the zone of highland xerophytes -  drought-resistant plants that can withstand high temperatures. The  area is distinguished by a special variety and richness of flora and  fauna. In the Khosrov Reserve there are 1686 plant species, 146 of  which are listed in the Red Books. Among them are a wild pear, apple,  plum, cherry, mountain ash, hawthorn, almonds, Vavilov rye. Also here  are protected forests of juniper and oak, mountain xerophytes,  mountain-steppe and wormwood semi-desert formations. In the Khosrov  Reserve there are rare species of arachnids, crustaceans, insects,  among which a large variety of butterflies listed in the Red Book.  And also 5 species of amphibians and fish, 33 species of reptiles,  142 species of birds, 55 species of mammals, in particular,  Transcaucasian brown bear, wild boar, broad-eared hedgehog, Armenian  moufflon, bezoar goat, lynx, wolf, fox, leopard, and others.

According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Nature Protection  and the Ministry of Emergencies, 250 hectares were damaged from the  total area of the Khosrov Forest Reserve in 1600 hectares. "The size  of the harm will be clarified after comparing the data from several  sources. We assure that we will not hide anything, there is no such  problem," Artsvik Minasyan stated. Meanwhile, independent experts say  that in reality about 2.5 thousand hectares of forest were burnt.