YEREVAN – The Armenian capital is preparing to host the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity(COP17).

Hours before the first high-level pre-summit events began this morning, activists from Artsakh and civil society representatives gathered directly in front of the Armenian Government Building to declare that COP17 must not become an international showcase for masking real problems.

Demonstrators held signs carrying powerful slogans like "Nature conservation is inseparable from human rights" and "There is no biodiversity without human rights and justice."

Participants in the peaceful protest highlighted Target 22 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which addresses the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. The global framework stipulates that the participation of all stakeholders must be ensured in environmental decision-making processes. It calls for indigenous peoples and local communities to have full, fair, inclusive, effective, and gender-sensitive representation. Furthermore, it demands that these communities maintain access to justice and information regarding biodiversity, and that their cultures, traditional knowledge, and rights to lands, territories, and resources be fully respected.

However, participants argued that hosting the global biodiversity summit in Yerevan exposes a painful contradiction, as the indigenous Armenian population of Artsakh has been forcibly displaced from its homeland, deprived of the opportunity to live there, and stripped of the ability to preserve its heritage. According to demonstrators, this mass displacement carries an immediate risk of destroying centuries of historical memory, cultural heritage, and identity.

"The nature of Artsakh is the heritage of the people of Artsakh—a heritage from which they are currently deprived," protestors stated.

The activists emphasized that it is impossible to authentically discuss global biodiversity protection while ignoring the basic rights of a people who have lived on and cared for that land for centuries. They are demanding that the COP17 platform in Yerevan be used by the international community to raise critical issues regarding the right of the people of Artsakh to safely return and protect their ancestral lands. 

Protesters also raised alarms about the dangers of mining—specifically the Amulsar gold project—and the plight of Armenian captives held in Baku.

Alvard Zakaryan, one of the demonstration's primary organizers, announced that the participants plan to march directly to the Swiss Consulate to formally deliver a letter of appeal. Activists are directing their plea to Ignazio Cassis, the head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and the current OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, in hopes that the humanitarian and human rights issues they have raised will be integrated into the upcoming COP17 summit agenda.

Zakaryan explained that Switzerland was specifically chosen for the appeal because the country has consistently spoken out on the critical challenges facing the displaced population of Artsakh.

The demonstration faced pushback from local law enforcement, with organizers reporting that police attempted to obstruct the peaceful gathering both before and during the event. According to participants, police initially informed them that the square directly in front of the Armenian Government Building was closed to the public, only for protestors to later discover that the area was entirely open.