Armenian officials and NGOs differ on deforestation data

PanARMENIAN.Net - Suren Matevosyan, director of Hayantar non-profit organization, said that the problem of illegal felling is actual for all countries, the only difference being the amount.

“Forests make 11% of Armenia’s territory. 350 thousand ha of forest resources is in possession of Hayantar,” Matevosyan told journalists on October 18.

However, according to former minister of environment, ecologist Karine Danielyan, forestry constitutes 7% of the republic’s territory.

“There is a wrong opinion that forests were cut in 1990-ies. At that time, about 500 thousand cu m were cut down. In 2000 the figure reached 800 thousand cu m and went down to 400 thousand cu m during the next years. The fact is that during the years of blockade, people cut down trees to heat their houses; now deforestation is a matter of commerce,” she said.