Environmentalist: Armenia does not pay attention to the issue of  climate change in terms of impact on biodiversity

ArmInfo. In Armenia, the competent authorities do not pay due attention to the issue of climate change in terms of impact on biodiversity. This was stated by  the head of the

Silva Adamyan at a January  13 press conference.

The expert noted that the consequences of the negative impact of  climate change are already observed in Armenia. In particular, this  process affected Lake Sevan, which "bloomed" in 2018 and 2019 due to  blue- green algae. Small hydropower plants, which were built on  rivers in violation of existing standards, also contributed to the  deterioration of the situation with water resources. This, for its  part, "hit" the river ecosystem, thereby exacerbating the effects of  climate warming. Adamyan drew attention to large-scale forest fires  in Australia, the victims of which were hundreds of millions of  animals. Meanwhile, in her words, in Armenia, the competent  authorities do not pay due attention to the problem of climate change  in terms of impact on biodiversity. This is especially depressing due  to the fact that last year there was an increase in forest fires in  the republic, which also captured specially protected natural areas.  In addition, forest fires occurred in the winter, which Adamyan  called unprecedented. The head of the Association Association for  Sustainable Human Development, Karine Danielyan noted that, according  to the UN, in the last 50 years, due to climate change, there has  been an increase in the number of natural disasters on the planet.  Moreover, as was emphasized, only in the last 3-4 years their number  has quadrupled. With this in mind, she called on the relevant  authorities to review the policy of subsoil use and urban development  in Armenia, especially given the high risks of desertification.

As the Minister of Nature Protection of Armenia Erik Grigoryan  previously reported, from 1960 to 2019 the average annual air  temperature in Armenia increased by 1.3 degrees. Over the indicated  period, the amount of precipitation in the republic decreased by 9%,  which has a negative impact, including on agriculture. To recall,  having ratified the Paris Agreement, Armenia committed to increase  the size of forest territories by 285 thousand ha by 2050, which  implies the planting of 800-900 million trees.

This means that up to 30 million seedlings should be planted  annually. This process automatically implies the creation of new  seedling nurseries, the creation of additional jobs, active  interaction with communities adjacent to forests, and so on. It is  expected that the large-scale planting program will enter the active  phase around 2025-2026.