Ecologists concerned over deforestation problem worldwide

PanARMENIAN.Net - Former Minister of Nature Protection of Armenia, Chairperson of the Association for Sustainable Development of Humanity NGO Karine Danielyan said that the problem of deforestation becomes more threatening worsens worldwide year by year.

The data provided by space researches on forest lands considerably differ from the official data given by states, Danielyan said during Yerevan-Moscow-Kyiv-Astana TV space bridge.

“The space data prove that the situation is much worse. Our country stands out for a special optimism in provision of similar data. Due to it, we raised the matter in the government and presented it to international organizations,” noted Danielyan.

She went on saying: “We underestimate the importance of forests, which are a key element of biosphere among other things. Forests preservation is a guarantee of the planet’s preservation.”

The expert added that ecologists have concluded long ago that only plantations – planted forests - can be cut. “It will take decades to form a forest with its biodiversity, flora and fauna. Those countries, which use plantations, are right,” said Danielyan.

Chief Forester at Armforest CJSC Ruben Petrosyan noted for his part that around 3,000ha of forests were planted in Armenia over the past five years. “As the technical support to the forest sector is not great, we currently have more problems than achievements. However, we will continue restoring forests. 150ha of forests are envisaged to be planted under the WWF project,” he said.

Petrosyan added that climatic conditions, along with human-made factors, stand behind the process of forests elimination.