“Tatev” national park may be established in the near future

The Minister of Environment Romanos Petrosyan today received Karen Manvelyan, Director of the World Wide Fund for Nature Armenian branch (WWF-Armenia).
 The partnership of the Ministry of Environment  and WWF-Armenia has a ten-year history, in the course of which the Ministry in collaboration with the Fund, has implemented a number of pivotal environmental projects focused on developing and capacity building of specially protected areas of nature of Armenia.
The overall objective of the Fund is to back Armenia to preserve endangered species, restore ecosystems, assume climate change mitigation actions, introduce economic mechanisms in a bid to create alternative livelihoods in local communities, thus promote sustainable use of natural resources and protect biodiversity.
The key agenda items were discussed with Mr. Manvelyan, which mostly referred to the development of the cooperation between the Ministry of Environment and the Fund, the current programs and the solution to existing problems. The roadmap for further steps was clarified.
The concept of creating “Tatev” national park was pinpointed, which, in the wake of implementation, will cover about 10,000 hectares, thereby forming a major link in Syunik region targeted at preserving the rich biodiversity.
In the context of “Promotion of  Eco-Corridors in the Southern Caucasus” regional project, they referred to the components of both financial and interstate cooperation, not bypassing the essential to introduce a culture of ecologically sustainable land use. The goal of the project is to make these corridors an integral part of the regional ecological network.
In the context of “Reintroduction of the Caucasian Red Deer in Armenia”, the launch of the work aimed at restoring the deer population in Armenia and the archived  results became a subject of discussion. Note, that  the  Breeding Center  of  the Caucasian  Red  Deer  built in “Dilijan” national park, is already operating in Armenia, that keeps and breeds animals with further release. 
The Minister thanked for  performed work, expressed his full-fledged assistance to support the current programs within the powers of the Ministry of Environment.
The Minister assured the partners that they are open to discuss any proposal.
Any activity that will have a positive impact on the preservation and protection of Armenia's unique nature, remarkable biodiversity is greeted, and the Ministry of Environment is willingly to back and participate in the fulfillment of all similar programs.