General environmental issues in Armenia

Water:
Although the resources of water are sufficient in this mountain country, the population doesn’t have water more than 4 hours a day, even in the capital : the management system is really bad.

During the soviet time, the level of lake Sevan, the major Armenian lake, dropped dramatically because of irrigation and hydroelectric plant. The level is currently slowly going up again, but many illegal constructions are now below the level of the rising lake…

Air:
In most cities, the dust concentration exceeds 2 to 3 times the allowed maximum. The cars are old and don’t have filter, polluting the air (heavy metals etc.)

In the few mining and industrial cities (Alaverdi, Ararat, Hrazdan), the air is very polluted because the industry doesn’t invest in clean technology.
Armenia has a very low level of CO2 emissions because there is not much industry and also because 30% of the cars in Armenia use gas instead of oil (for economic and political reasons). Europe targets 10% for 2020, so this percentage is extremely high. (source: http://haynews.free.fr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=78&Itemid=53)

Interesting documentary movies can be seen on : www.armeniatree.org

Forests :
There are 29 times less green areas per inhabitant in Yerevan than the international standard. Most of the trees in parks are cut to build new bars, and some say that we should count the number of restaurant seats per inhabitant instead of the number of trees…

« Although it is assumed that the greatest loss of Armenia’s forests occurred during the energy crisis in 1991-94, the cutting and devastation continue at alarming rates: according to World Bank estimates, Armenia’s forests will be eradicated in 20 years if cutting continues at the same pace.
An estimated 70% of wood cut in Armenia is used for heating and cooking purposes. Reducing the demand for wood fuel is central to protecting Armenia’s forests, but replacing wood with natural gas or other energy sources for heating requires an up front investment that most families cannot afford. The three main components of woodcutting include: official cutting, illegal cutting by business operations and individuals. Therefore, forest destruction continues to be driven by a combination of the high demand for cheap fuel and a lack of enforcement of forest protection standards. Corruption, illegal cutting and inadequate forest policies must be addressed. »
Source : www.armenianforests.am

For waste, see the article “Armenia: the smoking waste”

Advertisement