ArmInfo.About 20 million drams were allocated from the Armenian budget for forest restoration works. Minister of Nature Protection of Armenia Eric Grigoryan stated this during a seminar on the topic "Forests and Education", timed to the International Day of Forests.
"20 million drams were allocated from the budget for reforestation, in parallel with this, there are several programs that involve full-scale restoration of forest areas in the republic. At the end of January, we made a proposal for a program in the amount of $ 6.3 million, which includes restoration work on 450 hectares in Yerevan, "the minister said According to him, a number of reforestation programs are also planned to be implemented in the north of Armenia. "We have to take big steps in this direction, because our ambitions and our goals for forest restoration are very high, and besides, we have international commitments to increase forest areas in the country. The work on forest restoration will henceforth have a different level of quality, "Grigoryan assured of his word, stressing that the target of the government is 50% annual forest restoration.
Touching on the issue of installing cameras in forests as a means of controlling and security of these territories, the minister noted that this is not a sufficient condition for solving problems, adding that the ministry is currently developing a new model of management and control systems in forest areas.
Regarding the issue of raising wages for forestry workers, the minister noted that certain measures are being taken in this direction. <By the way, at the end of last year, the employees of protected areas received funds for the first time to purchase working clothes, which they had never received before, "Grigoryan concluded.
Representative of the German Embassy Klaus Wendelberger, who was present at the seminar, cited statistical data, according to which only 11% of the territory of Armenia (ie, 3341 km) Is covered with forest. "Germany has been helping the Armenian government in the protection of the country's natural resources for many years," said Wendelberger, expressing the hope that by 2025 Armenia will be able to increase its forest area to 20%.
According to the German diplomat, the problem of reforestation is not a task of the Ministry of Conservation and Nature alone - the problem will not be solved without the introduction of "smart" financial mechanisms with the participation of the Ministry of Finance. The seminar also highlighted a number of problems in the forest management system, in particular, inconsistency of forest legislation with international standards, legal issues, inefficient and non-transparent management, lack of reliable information on forest resources and their modification, lack of personnel in this area, and such a painful topic, like corruption.
It was noted that in the international report on the restoration of forest landscapes in Armenia, there were numbers that did not correspond to reality. According to the Bonn Challenge report, the restoration of forest landscapes Armenia in 2010 increased the forest area by 262 thousand hectares, and in 2015 by 332 thousand hectares. However, these figures do not correspond to reality.