ARMENIA

Forests cover approximately 10% of Armenia's land area; primary forest accounts for 0.5% of land area. The rate of deforestation has risen in recent years and is now around 1.4% per year.

Deforestation is mainly the result of a booming construction industry and felling for fuelwood, and is most serious in the north of the country. 9% of households use wood for heating and cooking. The World Bank has estimated that, if logging continues at the current rate, the Armenian forests will be completely destroyed within 20-30 years.

Research suggests that 630,000 m3 of timber are illegally logged in Armenia annually, earning over $140 million for wood processing industries each year. Companies are using approximately 10 times the amount permitted by government. A key driver for illegal logging is the huge difference in price between legal and illegal timber; illegal construction timber is about one tenth of the price of legal timber and illegal fuelwood sells for three-quarters of the price of legal wood. It is hoped that, as more of the population gets access to gas supplies, at least the demand for fuelwood will fall.

Because of limited timber supplies, Armenia has traditionally been a net importer of wood; however, recent tax legislation created zero tariffs for exporting and 20% tariffs for importing. According to NGOs, this has created a further incentive for illegal timber extraction, and exacerbated the destruction of the remaining forests. They are calling for the government to reconfigure the tax system to discourage exports.

The government has recognised the seriousness of the problem, but has yet to produce concrete policies to tackle the situation.

DOCUMENTS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
25/10/2011	ENPI FLEG Regional Bulletin, October 2011 Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) is an international, participatory process of formulation ...	ENPI FLEG
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01/06/2011	ENPI FLEG Regional Bulletin No. 4 Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) is an international, participatory process of formulation ...	ENPI FLEG
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01/08/2006	Strengthening Forest Law Enforcement and Governance: Addressing a systemic constraint to sustainable development This report arises from the need to take stock of both the Bank's efforts in the arena of forest ...	World Bank
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NEWS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
14/11/2012	Armenia replants trees burnt in wartime blockade War and an energy crisis in the early 1990s compelled Armenians to cut down thousands of trees for firewood. ...	Deutsche Welle, Germany
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08/08/2012	Illegal logging pervasive in Armenia Armenia, a former republic of the Soviet Union that shares a border with Turkey, is rife with systemic ...	Hardwood Floors, US
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02/04/2012	Armenian forestry’s fault is weak protection – interview Very often the free residues allocated by the government are being given to citizens for money or are ...	News.am, Armenia
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24/10/2011	Armenia: Where deforestation is a hidden killer Ask locals, and they’ll tell you that a 19th century mountaintop church in the southeastern region ...	Eurasianet.org
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19/07/2011	Government body reports surge in illegal logging Armenia’s state forestry agency reported on Tuesday a sharp increase in the scale of illegal logging ...	ArmeniaLiberty.org
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10/06/2011	Armenian environmentalists work out programs aiming to reduce illegal logging Environmentalists are warning that in Armenia illegal logging continues unabated and offer pilot programs ...	Armenia Now
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05/05/2011	Government claims major progress in Armenia’s reforestation The Armenian state forestry agency claimed on Thursday to have made significant strides in combating ...	ArmeniaLiberty.org
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16/12/2010	Armenian environmentalists worry about increased logging for winter fuel In a case highlighting wider problems of deforestation in Armenia, environmentalists in southern Armenia ...	Daily News, Turkey
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14/12/2010	Armenian forestry road shows unite communities in fight against illegal logging A series of road shows under the slogan “Turn to the Law, Protect Yourself and Your Forest” ...	ENPI Info Centre
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28/07/2010	RA Police started dispersing rally against deforestation of Teghut Representatives of the RA Police started dispersing a rally in front of the central office of VTB Bank ...	PanArmenian Net, Armenia
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24/05/2010	World Bank to assess FLEG programme fulfillment in Belarus Minsk - The fulfillment of the FLEG programme of the European neighborhood policy in the forestry companies ...	The National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus
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16/12/2009	Tree-vanity: Firs gladden the eye but worry environmentalists Three weeks before the New Year rows of natural fir trees line Baghramyan Avenue in front of the American ...	Armenia Now
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05/06/2008	Armenia joins international community in commemorating United Nations World Environment Day, with a focus on illegal logging and desertification Yerevan - The United Nations Development Programme and a wide range of partners in Armenia jointly marked ...	ArmeniaDiaspora.com
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28/01/2008	Forest copper mine triggers controversy in Armenia In Northern Armenia, a company has been given the go-ahead to establish a copper mine in Teghut Forest ...	Mongabay.com
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19/10/2007	Cutting into Trouble: Illegal logging decreases, but forests still in danger Armenia - Nazeli Vardanyan, chairwoman of the Armenian Forests NGO says the illegal logging of forests ...	ArmeniaNow (Armenia)
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27/07/2007	Nature under threat: survey finds illegal logging destroying Armenian forests There are 630,000 cubic meters of natural wood illegally logged in Armenia annually, accounting for about ...	ArmeniaNow.com
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27/06/2007	Who profits from deforestation? Yerevan, Armenia - Today a new alliance released an unprecedented economic study that unveils the system ...	EcoArmenia (Armenia)
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15/12/2006	Natural Challenge: Independent Armenia slow to learn stewardship of nature A wave of illegal logging is scalping the forests of Armenia. ...	ArmeniaNow.com (Armenia)
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09/11/2006	Environmentalists alarmed by scale of logging Environmentalists in Armenia have urged the government to put proper economic mechanisms in place to ...	Armenia Liberty (Armenia)
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28/04/2006	Disappearing forests: Illegal trade in lumber at root of Armenia's tree loss Armenia's forests and urban green spaces barely survived the energy crisis of the early 1990s. Fifteen ...	Armenia Now
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20/05/2005	Armenian Forests: Implications of the New Forest Code Last week a series of discussions began in Yerevan focusing on the draft new forest code. These discussions, ...	AZG Armenain Daily
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LINKS

TITLE	DESCRIPTION	REPORT
ENPI FLEG	The ENPI FLEG Programme “Improving Forest Law Enforcement and Governance in the European Neighbourhood Policy East Countries and Russia” supports governments, civil society, and the private sector in participating countries in the development of sound and sustainable forest management practices, including reducing the incidence of illegal forestry activities. Participating countries include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. This programme is funded by the European Union.	Broken link
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