News - Forest Park or Sports Village — what significance will the 'Jrvezh' Forest Park have in ten years?

This August, the Armenian government decided to allocate 23 hectares of land from the Jrvezh forest park near Yerevan to the World Committee for the Pan-Armenian Games. In September, through an accelerated procedure, this project passed a strategic ecological assessment and received a positive conclusion. The Jrvezh forest park was formed from Armenia's natural forests and about 128 tree- and shrub-species introduced from abroad. The park also contains 21 rare and endangered plant species listed in Armenia’s Red Book and 11 endemic beetle species. The creation of the Jrvezh forest park aimed to improve the ecological condition of Yerevan and to organize people’s recreation in a natural environment. However, in recent years the area has been allocated to various business projects promising large investments. The World Committee for the Pan-Armenian Games is a public organization whose president since 2011 has been Ishkhan Zakaryan. He also serves as a member of the national parliament. Ishkhan Zakaryan was elected in 2021 to the nationwide electoral list of the opposition alliance Pativ Urem. He later left the faction and sits as an independent MP. Prior to that he was a member of the Tsarukyan faction and from 2007 to 2017 served as the head of the Audit Chamber. The World Committee for the Pan-Armenian Games has pledged to invest 21 billion drams in this project. The investment program will be implemented through various partner organizations and individuals. However, the ecological assessment mentions that the forested area within the park mainly contains alien species that do not have conservation significance for the area. What is planned for the sport town The project aims to organize a public-cultural and sports recreation zone. The project will be implemented in three phases. In Phase 1, 13.3 billion drams will be invested, with works on land, utilities, road construction, as well as the construction and installation of 600 huts, a dining facility and a medical center, improvements, landscaping and fencing. Phase 1 is planned to be completed by December 31, 2031. In Phase 2, 5.7 billion drams will be invested, envisaging the establishment of sports facilities — a swimming pool, sports halls, tennis courts, etc., equipped with the appropriate gear. This phase will run until December 31, 2035. In Phase 3, a further 1.9 billion drams is planned, including the construction of mountain ski trails, a gondola and the introduction of an artificial snow system. The entire program is to be completed by 2038. As a result, it is expected to have a modern sport town with facilities and equipment to accommodate up to 6,000 people, where the Pan-Armenian Summer and Winter Games will be held, providing participants with lodging and meals, and outside the games — youth gatherings, Armenia-Diaspora multi-faceted events, recreation and entertainment facilities — a multi-functional center. With full load, the town is expected to create about 1,240 jobs. In the areas to be developed, cleaning and leveling works are planned. For each hut, about 110–120 square meters of soil will need to be leveled. The huts will be assembled in non-forested areas. The project was presented for strategic ecological assessment and expert examination. It was noted that after the construction of the sport town, 20,000 trees will be planted in the park. According to the project, the site is a semi-forest park, consisting mainly of deciduous trees and shrubs, with both overgrown thickets and meadows. The terrain has a fairly steep relief, which would allow architectural solutions to organize the sports events and the rest of athletes. According to the project, of the 23.3 hectares allocated, 50 percent will be developed and the remainder will be greened. Construction will be carried out with materials and modules that do not harm the environment. All construction solutions will be designed so as not to disturb the park’s unique landscape and the surrounding environment. All structures will be modular, metal and processed wood, mounted on pile foundations on metal posts, without concrete works. The approaching road to the site will be paved with asphalt, and parking will use a sand-clay surface. Adjacent areas will be lawns. Apart from the sand-clay base, no alternatives are envisaged; parking arrangements are planned so that the sand-clay road passes through areas free of tree vegetation, with only 1–2 trees preserved to ensure the existence of the current trees. If necessary, the Jrvezh Reserve Complex will perform sanitary clearing and, in barren areas, additional greening in the form of lawns. Some tree species may be replanted in advance in a pre-cultivated area under the supervision of the Jrvezh forest park. What the Jrvezh forest park represents The Jrvezh forest park was established in 1977. Its area and boundaries were defined by a government resolution in 2009, at 423.8 hectares. More than half of the area (about 260 hectares) is forested, mostly with artificial plantings. From Armenia’s natural forests and foreign sources, around 128 tree- and shrub-species were introduced, comprising 69 genera and 32 families. Ornamental species, including several conifers and various ornamentals, have adapted well here. The park also hosted valuable scientific resources, intended to be preserved and studied for their reproduction and ecological characteristics. The forest park also hosts rare and endangered plant species listed in Armenia’s Red Book, including several endemic beetles. The natural flora consists of more than 300 high-quality flowering plants. Endemic species of beetles endemic to Armenia are present here as well. The park and surrounding areas host flora with medicinal and other uses. Studies have been conducted to document introduced species, with herbarium records kept at the Armenian Reserve Complex. Among the plant and animal life there are numerous rare and endangered species listed in the Armenian Red Book, and numerous endemic invertebrates and other fauna typical for the region. The park also hosts prime habitat for a variety of birds and other wildlife. Site investigations have been conducted with the presence of the forest park’s representatives. Considering the site features, lightweight structural placements were chosen to minimize disruption to the natural state. During these surveys no Red Book flora or fauna were observed, but works will be conducted under the park’s supervision, and if any plant or animal is found, works will be halted and appropriate measures will be taken. On September 12, the village project appeared on the SHMN site, and on September 23 the acting minister Aram Mkrtchyan signed the positive conclusion of the state expert examination. The examination did not include the precise presence, movement or threat level of Red Book and rare species in the area requested. We spoke with Anahit Harutyunyan, former head of the science department at the Armenian Reserve Complex, who expressed concern that the Jrvezh forest park will soon cease to exist. She states that Red Book plant species must be present in these areas because the upper part of the area is densely vegetated. She noted that the area has long attracted interest, including from former president and prime minister Hovik Abrahamyan, but botanists and their work prevented any allocation of these areas; now the same spaces are being allocated for a sports town. The areas assigned to the Pan-Armenian Games World Committee coincide with the critical infrastructure for the forest park. The park’s irrigation system, which is either active or not, lies along the route allocated to the Committee, which either is intentional or due to ignorance by the park’s leadership. This June, Arsen Mirzoyan, the acting head of the Argelotsapark Complex state enterprise, told us in a telephone interview that he does not see a threat to the forest park, and that the park will develop; he assured that the park’s irrigation system does not fall within the allocated area and that, in general, those areas are not irrigated because of irrigation issues. Meanwhile, Zakaryan confirmed in our interview that, in fact, those systems lie within his territory, but they have undertaken responsibility for renewing the entire irrigation network, which will be their gift to the Jrvezh forest park. The park’s current lessees We asked the Ministry of Environment to provide the current valid lease contracts and a list of lessees with building rights in the Jrvezh forest park. There are currently six lessees occupying about 9 hectares; only one of them has building rights. Lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan, a specialist in ecological law, said that similar projects always invite others and that sooner or later other entrepreneurs may show interest in the park. The park was created to protect Yerevan from pollution and to provide cleaner air for the city; she believes civil society is unaware of the project and its risks, which justifies challenging the government’s decision in court. The Ministry of Finance said it has no principled objections to the decision, provided it does not disrupt the park’s normal functioning. The Ministry of Environment noted that although the entire forest park area is not densely forested, it cannot be classified as an empty or barren area as suggested in the government decision. The ministry proposed removing the term empty and avoiding similar ecosystem labeling, since the area is not barren but a semi-desert zone where local flora, shrubs and habitats for small and medium mammals and insects grow. We also spoke with the committee’s president Ishkhan Zakaryan. You can view the full interview on Hetq’s YouTube channel tomorrow. In the main photograph: Ishkhan Zakaryan