Today, on May 12, the presentation of the strategy of the Lake Sevan protection platform, created with the support of the "Environmental protection of Lake Sevan" (EU4Sevan) program, which is co-financed by the European Union and the German government, was held in Gavar, which was organized by "Blejan" NGO.
The Lake Sevan protection platform, which has been operating for six months in the Gavar community, aims to form environmentally responsible behavior of citizens and change their attitude towards the environment, as well as to reduce and as much as possible solve the production and public purpose, agricultural sewage/wastewater of households in Gavaraget and Sevan. the question of the cleaning process. The purpose of the platform is to bring together representatives of the public and private sector, as well as civil society, taking joint responsibility and joint efforts to reduce pressure on Lake Sevan.
The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Environment Aram Meimaryan, EU4Sevan project manager Christian Henschel and the project team, representatives of the public and private sectors of Gegharkunik region, civil society, as well as other officials, interested parties and residents of the participating communities.
The deputy minister welcomed the participants. "Preserving Lake Sevan as a fresh water basin of national and regional importance, restoring the ecological balance and ensuring the normal development and sustainable use of the ecosystem of the Lake Sevan basin is our primary task today. Every citizen of the Republic of Armenia should form and take root the idea that he is also responsible for ensuring the cleanliness of Lake Sevan from school age. Involvement of state and local self-government bodies, large-scale educational and awareness-raising activities, etc., I hope that this platform will become the tool and the way by which we will approach the formation of that thinking. The Ministry of Environment is always ready to support the platform's activities and smooth operations."
During the six months of the platform's activity, the participants discussed and familiarized themselves with the current situation of Lake Sevan, the main sources of pressure, as well as the risks caused by the Lake Sevan problem and their consequences for various sectors. As a result, thematic working groups were formed, which, as a result of joint work, developed a working group strategy and an action plan, which were presented during the event by representatives of the "Information" and "Water Quality, Sewage" working groups, which was followed by a question-and-answer discussion.
"I am happy for the cooperation with the Gegharkunik governor's office and I welcome you to participate in this important meeting for all of us. Today, within the framework of the project implemented by us, we have gathered to discuss a very important issue related to the presentation of the strategy of the Lake Sevan protection platform. It is true that our project will end next year, but Lake Sevan with its ecosystem will last forever. Therefore, we should all show unity and take part in the healthy protection of Lake Sevan and as a further step, jointly find the possible solutions that should be implemented so that the problems affecting the lake can be resolved as much as possible", emphasized Christian Henschel.
At the end of the event Participants of the three-day online course on Natural Resources Risk and Action Framework (NRAF) methodology, which took place in January, were given certificates of participation in the course. The aim of the training was to inform and familiarize the participants with the methodology and build capacity to use the NRAF as a guiding framework for natural resource management, which is extremely important in the process of establishing the Lake Sevan Conservation Platform. The EU4Sevan project is jointly funded by the European Union and the German government and is implemented in Germany. by the International Cooperation Company (ICC) as part of the "ECOServe" project, and by UNDP under the delegation of the Ministry of Environment.