By Armine Tokhmakhyan 

The board and staff of Armenia Tree Project (ATP) together with Ohanian family members hosted the ceremonial opening of the new Michael and Virginia Ohanian Center for Environmental Studies in Margahovit. Vice Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan and Lori Governor Arthur Nalbandyan were the guests of honor at the ceremonial opening. 

Following its successful model of the environmental education center in Karin Village, ATP will host students, eco clubs, teachers, farmers, and professionals from Armenia and abroad at the new Ohanian Center in northern Armenia. The first beneficiaries of the center will be the population of Lori and Tavush provinces. The educational facility is located close to ATP’s Mirak Reforestation Nursery, which will allow theory and practice to be combined. 

In his opening remarks ATP Managing Director Tom Garabedian stated, “To construct a Center like this, you need a strong sense of mission and purpose; you need the financial means for which we thank Mrs. Virginia Ohanian and her family, and you need the cooperation of a community which values learning and the importance of environmental conservation. We fully expect that all of these elements are present here.” 

Commenting on the site, he added, “As it matures, the Center’s landscape will both beautify Margahovit and provide a hands-on learning experience for the children of Armenia. We all want the youth of Armenia to care for their environment, and this Center will play an important role in educating them.”   

During her speech at the opening, ATP Founder Carolyn Mugar recalled the difficult years of the energy crisis when ATP was established. “In the early 1990’s, those terrible years of the blockade, when everyone suffered from shortages of heat and energy, people had to cut down trees to survive, stay warm, and cook. Tree stumps were everywhere. ATP was born in the midst of those difficult times. People asked me, ‘How can you plant trees when people need kerosene and milk?’ It was just at this low moment that we decided that now was the time to invest in the future of Armenia!” 

“Today we are opening the Michael and Virginia Ohanian Center for Environmental Studies,” added Ms. Mugar. “In this center, children and students will learn that wood is a renewable resource if grown and cared for responsibly. They can learn how crucial a sustainable environment is to the future of a secure and thriving Armenia. We can even ask, ‘Is the long term risk of mining which destroys forests and pollutes rivers worth the cost?’” 

Ms. Mugar closed her remarks by extending her gratitude to Mrs. Ohanian and her late husband Michael, who have been leading benefactors of ATP since its founding. “I hope that their gift will inspire others to give to ensure the viability and vibrancy of Armenia,” she emphasized. 

Governor Nalbandyan remarked that he greatly valued ATP’s programs in Armenia. “I would like to thank ATP for their hard work in Armenia, especially in the Lori region. Their existence in Lori is of utmost importance as Lori is otherwise a center of industrial mining,” he explained. “I would personally like to thank the donors of ATP for their support of sustainable development in Armenia.” 

Father Dajad Davidian then performed a traditional blessing ceremony for the new educational center. Schoolchildren from Margahovit accompanied Der Dajad in the blessing ceremony by singing sharagans and also drew pictures of the beautiful mountains nearby for the guests. 

Family members Gail O’Reilly and Charles Talanian, the niece and nephew of Mrs. Virginia Ohanian, then unveiled the Center’s plaque with Carolyn Mugar to signal the official opening. 

This year ATP celebrates its 18th anniversary. Through ATP’s community tree planting and reforestation efforts, more than 4,000,000 trees have been planted throughout the country. ATP’s environmental education program extends to hundreds of teachers and thousands of students in all regions of Armenia. 

ATP’s mission is to assist the Armenian people in using trees to improve their standard of living and protect the environment, guided by the desire to promote self-sufficiency, aid those with the fewest resources first, and conserve the indigenous ecosystem. ATP’s three major programs are tree planting, environmental education, and sustainable development initiatives. For more information, please visit the web site www.armeniatree.org.