ArmInfo. The territory of the Khosrov Reserve can Territory of Khosrov Reserve may enlarge by 8 thousand hectares. Minister of Environment of the Republic of Armenia Erik Grigoryan at a December 25 press conference announced this.
According to him, this indicator is based on the results of studies. As noted, only those territories that are of interest from the point of view of biodiversity protection are taken into account. The ministry's proposal to increase the territories of the Khosrov Reserve has been submitted for consideration to the relevant structures.
Grigoryan also informed that this year the ministry's staff carried out mapping of 44 abandoned mining areas and 5 tailing dumps. Based on their results, a plan was developed for the reclamation of two abandoned tailing dumps located near the communities of Sotk and Tantsut. According to the minister, acid drainage (outflow of acidic water) takes place in the above deposits. We add that, according to experts, acid drainage in itself is a serious threat to hydrobionts (aquatic organisms), since they die under acidic conditions Speaking about environmental issues, Grigoryan also touched upon the situation with underground water sources in Ararat and Armavir. So, over the past year, work was completed to close 8 artesian wells and to preserve 43.
In addition, at the expense of economic entities, another 26 wells were mothballed. In another 20 wells, the minister noted, a closed regime began to operate. As a result, we managed to save water use volumes of 3 thousand liters / sec., Which exceeds the annual volume of drinking water consumption in Yerevan. Work is also underway to solve problems in the field of small hydropower plants.
Thus, new standards for fish farmers have been developed and submitted for approval, which, according to Grigoryan, will make it possible to restore the fish population in rivers within two to three years.
As for the forest sector, significant results in the fight against forest smuggling have been achieved thanks to a tougher punishment for illegal logging. This year, with funding from the Russian Federation and UNDP assistance, 360 sets of fire-fighting clothing were provided to "Hayantar" employees. In addition, for the first time, employees of all "Hayantar" branches were given winter and summer overalls, and from October 1, the salary of 611 employees of this SNPO increased by 20 thousand drams. The minister also recalled that for the first time 425 million drams were allocated from the state budget for reforestation.