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  • Dilijan Deforestation: Are Officials Turning A Blind Eye To Illegal

    DILIJAN DEFORESTATION: ARE OFFICIALS TURNING A BLIND EYE TO ILLEGAL CUTTING OF TREES?
    Arman Gharibyan

    http://hetq.am/en/ecology/carahatum-7/
    2010/03/01 | 16:16

    Mariam Sukhudyan and Friends Stumble on Some Disturbing Evidence
    in Forest

    On February 20, a group of young people travelled to Dilijan for a
    hike in the woods. Upon entering the forest they heard a familiar
    but unwelcome sound.

    "We had just started to hike when we heard the sound of an electric
    chainsaw. It seemed like there were several saws going off from
    different directions; a symphony of saws if you will. The noise went
    on all day. That evening, my friends and I set off in the direction
    of the buzzing saws to see who was cutting down trees in the forest.

    Along the way, we stumbled upon a number of thick stumps surrounded
    by fresh sawdust and cut branches. Victims of the chainsaw," said
    Mariam Sukhudyan, one of the hikers.

    Please, no photographs...

    The hikers first encountered two men. "One was carrying an axe and the
    other had a saw. They had evidently cut down a bunch of trees and were
    rolling down the limbs and branches into a ravine to make it easier to
    transport out," Mariam said. "I asked if what they were doing was legal
    and they answered, 'of course'. I suggested that I photograph them in
    the midst of their 'legal work'. The young guy with the saw immediately
    turned and left. The other one turned his face from the camera."

    That day, Mariam notified Hetq about what she had witnessed. We,
    in turn, contacted the Ministry of Nature Protection.

    Artur Gevorgyan, Deputy Head of the State Environmental Inspectorate,
    told Hetq that after receiving the news ministry inspectors went to
    site of the incident accompanied by staff of the Dilijan National
    Park Protection Unit. They saw that seven healthy trees had been
    illegally felled in an area known as "Aghvesi Tala".

    Illegal tree choppers identified

    Artur Gevorgyan said, "An investigation was conducted by the
    Park's Protection Unit and members of the Dilijan Police and those
    responsible for the illegal tree felling have been identified. A case
    file was prepared and sent to the Tavush Environmental Inspectorate
    for processing."

    The Tavush Regional Inspectorate is charged with assessing the extent
    of the damage. If it exceeds 400,000 AMD ($1,050), the case is then
    sent to the police and a criminal case is launched.

    Mariam Sukhudyan said that they witnessed other cases of trees being
    cut down.

    "When we left that site, we happened upon another terrible sight. We
    saw more than thirty healthy trees that had been felled. Despite being
    a bit removed from the site, I tried to take some pictures with my
    video camera. (Hetq has the photos - Ed). We saw a car and a truck
    parked at the site. I assume they were about to ferry out the tree,"
    recounts the young environmental activist.

    But we have permission to chop and cut...

    The people there saw that they were being photographed from afar and
    yelled out to Mariam to stop taking pictures.

    "They were probably following our movements using binoculars, since we
    were a good distance away. A bit later, two men approached and asked
    who had given permission for us to take pictures. I replied that if
    they weren't doing anything illegal why were they scared of the camera
    lens. The men were quite aggressive so I called up Artur Gevorgyan,
    the Deputy Head of the Inspectorate, at the number given to me by
    Hetq. I wanted him to talk to the guys chopping down the trees.

    Naturally, they refused to talk to Gevorgyan. They called up someone
    else instead and then quickly left us," Mariam recounts.

    Inspectors arrived at the site after Mariam's call. "Afterwards,
    the ministry inspectors approached us with the men we had early
    encountered. The officials said that after investigating the site, they
    concluded that some of the cuttings were legal and others weren't,"
    Mariam said.

    To prove that they were legally cutting down trees, the men produced a
    copy of a tree cutting permit from the Ministry of Nature Protection,
    spelling out a 20009 work project for the Dilijan National Park.

    According to the permit, 25 trees were to be felled; 16 hornbeams,
    8 beech and 1 maple.

    "But I saw more than 30 cut trees in just one day. I also saw stumps
    that were being burnt to make it look like the trees had been dried
    out and old. They were healthy trees, however," Mariam said.

    Dilijan Park Director Poghosyan - Nothing illegal going on

    Ashot Poghosyan, Director of the Dilijan National Park, assured Hetq
    that the men who produced the permit were engaged in legal activities
    and that illegal cutters were responsible for the other damage.

    Hetq asked Ashot Poghosyan if was possible that those with permission
    to fell 25 trees might actually exceed their limit. He replied that
    his office had examined their work and that no illegal cutting had
    been conducted.

    We also asked Artur Gevorgyan, the Inspectorate Deputy Head, the same
    question. "Is it possible? We are living in the age of monkeys.

    Everything is being closely monitored," was his reply.

    Environmental Inspectorate - "People cutting down trees only answerable
    to us"

    Artur Gevorgyan noted that wood harvesters were under no obligation
    to show Mariam Sukhudyan any permit. "They have to prove to us that
    what they are doing is legal and not to anyone else."

    Mariam Sukhudyan believes that those with permission from the ministry
    were also engaging in illegal cutting. If they were legally felling
    trees then why, Mariam argues, would there be any need from them to
    prove anything to her?

    "If all that deforestation was legal why did they initially try to
    scare me off and then try to reason with me? When they realized that
    I was steadfast and wouldn't give in, they tried to bribe me into
    silence. Anyway, I got the strong impression from the way they acted
    that what they were doing was also illegal," Mariam says, adding,
    "If this violation isn't investigated and those responsible not
    punished, then there can be no doubt that they enjoy the protection
    of high-ranking officials."
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