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The decision on Teghut forest is made… not in favor of greenery

According to the working plan by Armenian Copper Program (ACP) the exploitation of the ore mine demands logging 357.16 hectares of wood, where the volume of timber will make 57,700 cubic meters.

Environmentalists say 170,833 trees will be logged for the exploitation, including rare sorts of walnut, oak, apple and pear trees. In the Teghut woods 55,000 rare and 45,000 valuable trees grow, as well as plants and animal species included in the Red Data List that will likely vanish when the mine is exploited.

“Our estimates show about 2,000 hectares of forests will be destroyed for exploitation, creation of the tailing and communication infrastructure. As a result Teghut will become a landslide zone,” says economist Razmik Terteryan.

The fuss kicked up by environmentalists somewhat delayed the government’s decision. However, the new Minister of Environmental Protection Aram Harutyunyan, came up with a hasty positive conclusion to the examination set for the issue, thus continuing the work his predecessor Vardan Aivazyan began, despite the minister’s statement for holding another examination within the next one month.

The work by the former and the present ministers was approved by Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, who visited the mine in the village of Teghut several days ago to attend the set up of the ore mine. According to the PM any kind of mine exploitation would affect the environment, but the company has taken an obligation [to minimize the negative impact]. “I think there is no need to worry, because the RA government clearly defines the rules of the game and we, as the government, will constantly be supervising the second party of the process,” Sargsyan stated.

The start up was signified by burying Sargsyan’s message set in a re-molded shell – a residue of the war in Karabakh –to be opened after decades.

“I believe, readers of this message decades after the plant is launched will evidence all our purposes were true and their fulfillment was done in a knowledgeable way and was comprehensively considered,” says the message.

Meanwhile 26 organizations of the SOS Teghut coalition, including Hakob Sanasaryan, the chairman of the Greens’ Union, believe the governmental decision has no legal grounds. “The decision was made by fake means based on unsubstantiated documents,” says Sanasaryan.

The coalition states the positive conclusion of the project examination has violated 77 provisions of RA laws and international agreements, which means the activity of the company cannot avoid violating laws either.

“Violated are the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, of laws on Natural Areas under Special Protection, on Flora, on Fauna, on Examination for Impact of Environment, on Urban-Planning and Protection of Atmospheric Air, as well as Land, Water, Lithosphere and Forest Codes,” the coalitional statement says.

The environmentalists say the ACP has not taken the opinions and the recommendations of experts into notice either.

“The project has miscalculations, cover-ups and fake data. They say public hearings have been organized, but it has been done only among the interested parties. That is, the outcome of the project was decided from the very beginning, consequently nobody’s opinion could be decisive,” says Sanasaryan.

Srbuhi Harutyunyan, chairwoman of the Social-Ecological Association shares the opinion: “The authorized state body for ecological examination has not kept to the letter of the law either: it has not organized public hearings to discuss the opinions of interested state structures, the professional conclusions of independent experts and the offered recommendations over the impact of the planned operation of the company.”

The PM says the positive influence of the Teghut mine exploitation on the economy of the Republic of Armenia will be significant. He says the company plans to invest about $250-300 million, the Armenian GDP will grow by 1-1.5 percent, and the volume of exports will grow up to 15 percent. The mine will be exploited for 30-40 years and will produce 30,000 tons of copper and 800 tons of molybdenum concentrates annually.

The Prime Minister mentions the most important thing is that 1,700 jobs will be created in the nearest future, something the local population sharply needs.

The mine that will cover an area of 670 hectares directly adjoins the villages of Shnogh and Teghut (with a total population of about 5,000).

Nazeli Vardanyan, chairwoman of the Armenian Forests NGO, however, believes, there are more civilized and safe ways of creating jobs, offering to open a preserve factory or light industry enterprise there. “Who says we must exploit all our mines? The heads of the village administrations welcome the project of mine exploitation today, but we can see ourselves the growth in the environmental problems causing increase in the defective birth rate,” says Vardanyan and adds: “Today the heads of Teghut and Shnogh administrations care for their positions, but tomorrow they will be the first to lose their job, because there will be neither Teghut nor Shnogh.”

And Srbuhi Harutyunyan predicts: “ACP will leave [the place] at the end leaving distorted lands, hopelessly dried up mountain sources and degradation becomes excessively horrific to the population and we will need efforts of several generations to lessen the impact.”

For more on the issue, see:
http://www.armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=2065  and
http://www.armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=2555