The Municipal Council of the community of Yelpin (Vayots Dzor) has voted to prohibit the village mayor from signing any agreement with the “ARGAMIK” corporation allowing it to conduct geological surveys on municipal lands.

The Council’s August 28th decision was read aloud at a village meeting attended by the corporation’s management, representatives of the Vayots Dzor Regional Administration, local residents and a working delegation from the environmental group Ecolur. »»»»»

Who was behind demonstration against hydro-electric plant?

In a further development to the story connected to the construction of a hydro-electric power plant on the Argitch River, Mayor Rubik Ghukasyan of the village of Verin Getashen has called on 15 residents to appear before the local prosecutor to provide testimony. »»»»»

Adrineh Der-Boghossian

For Armenians who lost their homes in political upheaval an innovative tree-planting scheme to restore orchards and forests is a way to earn some money while helping their country create a more comfortable environment, reports a volunteer for the Armenia Tree Project. Nat Geo News Watch profiled the project last year: How trees are restoring hope to Armenia.

Aygut, Armenia –Thirty-nine-year-old Vatchakan Tsakanyan remembers coming to Aygut Village in 1989 as a young man–a common experience since just about all the residents came here from Chardakhlu and other villages in Azerbaijan when the two states swapped non-nationals during the Karabagh conflict. »»»»»

Diana Markosian

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Armenia Thursday evening on a two-day visit. His agenda: the Russian military base, ongoing discussion on the “frozen” Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and a visit to the genocide memorial. But one thing that was not made a priority was the environmental crisis currently gripping Armenia. »»»»»

Environmental activists in Armenia are planning to greet Serj Tankian, who will give his first concert in Yerevan on August 12, with a bicycle convoy or “Bike-Boom”.

Serj Tankian, best known as a soloist with the rock group “System of a Down” has been an outspoken supporter of protesting the environment and living in harmony with nature. A group calling itself “Bicycle +” and the Teghut Defense Group are planning the event for the evening of August 11. Details of the route will be announced later.

Today, the RoA Court of Cassation postponed the trial pitting the Ecodar environmental NGO against the Armenian Copper Programme (ACP) and the Armenian government.

Ecodar had filed a suit with the Cassation Court demanding that it overturn a decision by the Administrative Court that had rejected its original suit that worked by halted on construction of a copper and molybdenum mine in the Teghut forest. »»»»»

Ruben Khachatryan, Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets, said today that the plastic bags so freely handed out in Yerevan shops are killing the environment and ordinary people.

“I’m not only talking about the plastic bags we use for our food shopping. Even the plastic toys and other stuff we buy eventually winds up in the garbage. None of it can be recycled,” he said, adding that the Armenian authorities are not monitoring the importation of plastics nor their local manufacture. As a result, Armenia is awash in the stuff, he argued. »»»»»

The Group wants to voice its opposition to a $300 million loan the bank will provide ACP (Armenian Copper Programme), a company that has plans to operate a copper and molybdenum mine in the Teghut forest region of northern Armenia. »»»»»

Ecolur, an environmental NGO in Armenia, has presented a petition in the Court of Cassation, seeking to overturn the ruling of the Administrative Court regarding the groups original suit to halt all work at the Teghut mining site. The Cassation Court has accepted the petition but has yet to set a date for the start of the case.

The lower court had thrown out the original suit by a coalition of environmental groups, claiming that the NGO’s had no legal basis to bring such a suit to the court. Previously, the same Administrative Court had once before rejected a similar suit on the same grounds. The coalition then went to the Court of Cassation to have the lower court accept the suit.

The Aarhus Center in Gavar has reported that more than 500 residents from six villages in the Gegharkounik Marz yesterday blocked the Sevan highway leading to Martuni. The residents were protesting the construction of a small hydro-electric plant on the Argitchi River, the largest flowing into Lake Sevan.

The report says that “Zangezur Eximp” LLC is illegally constructing the plant, even though the permit issued only allows it to conduct engineering work on the tributary of the Eghegis River in Kapuyt Berd. The State Environmental Inspectorate with the Ministry of Nature Protection has said it will study the matter.

Months ago the OSCE office in Armenia said the organization was willing to financially assist in the demolition of the Nubarashen toxic dump site, but that the amount wouldn’t be enough for the job.

Mr. Karel Hofstra, Deputy Head of the OSCE Office, had stated at the time that new sources of international assistance had to be sourced. Hetq recently went back to ask him what measures had been taken in the interim. »»»»»