 Lena Nazaryan
Children Tested in Syunik Display Disturbing Traces of Heavy Metals
[December 01, 2008]
These two seven year-old girls, who live in the Lernadzor village in Syunik, are from the group of five children whose hair was found to contain a whole range of heavy metals. A similar collection of heavy metals was also discovered in the hair samples of twelve children examined in Kajaran.
Results of these hair studies are summarized in a research work entitled, "Ecological and Geological Assessment of the Environmental State of Kajaran" (2008). The research was carried out by the Armenian Academy of Sciences' Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies (CENS) and was commissioned by the Kajaran Municipality. The aim of the research was to evaluate the impact of the Zangezour Copper-Molybdenum Plant on the environment of Kajaran.
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 Lena Nazaryan
A Russian Hunter Tracks Down Armenian Mouflon Sheep
[November 24, 2008]
“What we saw met all our expectations. Every day for the four days in the field we could see small flocks of Armenian mouflon sheep. Valery could have opened fire the very first day, but remembering that research work entailed more than hunting, he wasn’t in a hurry and waited for the OK of our guide. It was only on the last day, after some tiring treks and turns that we came upon a suitable grouping of Armenian mouflon. The herd was comprised of 5 large adults and a young female. Firing from a distance of 350 meters was not only impossible but dangerous as well. To open fire in such conditions on the last day of the hunt would have been a mistake. Cutting across the terrain to a distance of some 120 meters from the flock, the hunter brought down a magnificent animal on the first shot.”
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 Lena Nazaryan
The Specter of Uranium Once Again Hangs Over Syunik
[November 10, 2008]
When news reached the residents of the village of Lernadzor that prospecting for uranium was once again soon to begin in their village they were thrown into a panic. Many remembered the time, some forty years ago, that Russian geologists came to the village and located a mine of uranium nearby.
It remains a mystery why further exploration was halted back in the 1970’s. Any information regarding the Lernadzor mine remains locked-up in the archives in Moscow.
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 Lena Nazaryan
A Bird Hunt in Sevan’s “Lijk-Argich Preserve”
[November 03, 2008]
These pictures were recently taken on the weekend at the Lijk-Argich Preserve located within the confines of the Sevan National Park. The Preserve is one of the four located in the Park. While it is not the largest of the four it is home to 5 species of birds; the Glossy Ibis, Dalmatian Pelican, Whooper Swan, a member of the Magpie family and a type of duck or mallard.
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 Lena Nazaryan
The Nature Minister’s Private House on the Shores of Sevan
[October 27, 2008]
A few months ago, when the Armenian government was debating the permissible amounts of water that could be drawn from Lake Sevan, the press was full of reports that the agreed upon 360 million cubic meters of water to be extracted wasn’t needed for agricultural irrigation usage but rather to save the numerous property sites of government officials from the rising lake’s waters.
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 Lena Nazaryan
Who Will Protect Armenia’s Wild Places?
[October 27, 2008]
Near the entrance to the National Khosrov Forest Preserve, in the vicinity of the village of Garni, an informational center is being built in order to organize the visits of the scores of tourists flocking to this scenic spot. The center is being built with financing from the Armenian branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The outer walls of the center resemble the layers of the basalt stone columns that scatter the Garni Gorge. Last year these stone formations were mercilessly plundered as construction material by different government officials.
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Larisa Paremuzyan
Serop Der-Boghosian Receives an Award from the Prime Minister
[September 29, 2008]
On September 20th the 245th anniversary of the Mine Enrichment Plant (MEP)was celebrated in the town of Akhtala, located in the Lori Marz. On hand to participate in the festivities was Armenia’ Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. Before the official celebration got underway we tried to ask the residents of Akhtala what they thought about the Haylur TV broadcast of September 18th that showed Serop Der-Boghosian, the principal owner and CEO of the MEP drinking a glass of water flowing from the tailings dam of his factory and which ended by jokingly asking that an ambulance be immediately dispatched to the scene.
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 Edik Baghdasaryan
They’re Gobbling up Land at 25 drams per Square Meter to Mine Gold
[September 08, 2008]
Mr. Serop Der-Boghosian, a Diaspora-Armenian, is purchasing land from the residents of the village of Aranis at 25 drams per square meter. Aranis is one of the neighborhoods of the town of Stepanavan even though it is frequently mentioned as a village, in its own right, in official memorandums. It is here, starting in May of this year, that the residents of Stepanavan and neighboring villages were thrown into a state of alarm by the operation of a gold and multi-ore mining concern. After the opening of the mining operation a visitor to Stepanavan could have heard a variety of stories about manifestations of yellow rain, about uranium wastes being dumped in the river, explosions and about swimming being prohibited in the Dzoraget River. None of the residents wish to offer explanations or pass judgment on the matter. Public hearings, as envisaged by the law, haven’t been organized.
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 Astghik Khachatryan
Yerevan’s Main Garbage Dump Continues to Pollute the Environment
[September 08, 2008]
The majority of Yerevan’s consumer waste is trucked to the Nubarashen garbage dump. On a daily basis 420-450 tons of garbage collected from the Shengavit, Erebuni, Arabkir and Gentron districts is transferred to this site right on the outskirts of Yerevan. Presently, the dump contains some 7 million tons of garbage.
As the garbage is stored and piled at the dump a natural filtration process occurs whereby organic wastes decompose and chemical reactions begin. Natural gases are given off which are dispersed into the atmosphere at low concentrations. At higher concentration levels, these gases can self-ignite.
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 Larisa Paremuzyan
The Armenian Government is Obligated to Shut Down the Akhtala Mine Enrichment Plant
[September 01, 2008]
After taking a look at the accompanying photos the Armenian government must immediately put a halt to the operations of Metal Prince Ltd. in Armenia.
Nailed to the large wall of the Cultural Palace situated in the square of the town of Akhtala in the Lori Marz is a huge banner displaying the pictures of ROA President Serzh Sargsyan and Serop Der-Boghosian, the owner of Metal Prince Ltd. The two are shown wearing mining hard hats.
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 Voskan Sargsyan
What Causes the Waters of the Debed River to Turn White?
[September 01, 2008]
The peach fields of the Noyemberyan district yielded up to 30 tons of crops during the Soviet years. So much so that neighboring village residents and groups of schoolchildren pitched in to help the fruit growers in the Debed valley harvest it all. Still, some of the bountiful crop wasted away, unpicked on the trees. The sun-drenched fruit grown in Noyemberyan was exported to other Soviet countries by air and train transport.
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 Larisa Paremuzyan
A Local “HayAntar” Official Has His Own Sawmill
[July 28, 2008]
A resident of the Shnogh village in the Lori Marz told “Hetq” that a large swath of walnut trees registered in the “Red Book” of endangered species had been cut down. While this person requested that we not mention his name, he was clearly upset about the felling of native trees. He gave us a photo he had taken of some ten felled walnut trees. “Damn these people. They’ll get their come-uppance, believe me.” The forest of Shnogh covers some 6,400 hectares of land.
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“Ararat Safari” Will Bring 10-15 Italian Bird Hunters To Armenia
[April 07, 2008]
“Hetq” has recently covered the story of the company “Ararat Safari” and the ensuing uproar created. It became known that the company ‘s aim was to bring bird hunters from overseas to Armenia. It had been noted that “Ararat Safari” was an Italian company.
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 Haykush Aslanyan
Biological Waste Is Being Dumped Into The Hrazdan River
[March 31, 2008]
Aida Khachatryan, a resident of the village of Geghanist in Ararat Marz, blames her respiratory ailment on the foul-smelling vapors emanating from the irrigation canal that runs alongside her house. She complains that, “We’ve been breathing that stench for 15 years now. They’ve pulled every sort of garbage from that canal - even dead pigs, cats and dogs. We don’t have the means to circulate the air in the house. What we need is some real oxygen to breathe.”
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 Lena Nazaryan
Bird Hunting in Armenia - The Ministry Of Nature Protection Investigates
[March 27, 2008]
The Ministry of Nature Protection in Armenia confesses that it has no clue as to who is involved in the Italian company that calls itself Ararat Safari which has a site on the web advertising the Araratian Plain in Armenia to bird hunters worldwide.
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Italians Want To Turn Armenia Into A Bird Hunters Paradise
[March 24, 2008]
The following pictures are part of an Italian advertising campaign to attract hunters to the Araratian Plain in Armenia to shoot birds. A few days ago we learnt that the following Italian firm “Ararat Safari” was promoting this picturesque area in the shadow of Mt. Ararat as an untapped resource for bird hunters overseas.
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 Larisa Paremuzyan
Economic Gain Wins in Teghut
[November 12, 2007]
On November 3, the Vallex Group officially announced the beginning of its construction of a copper and molybdenum mine in the village of Teghut. Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan was present at the ceremony, and nothing was spared to make it an impressive event.
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 Edik Baghdasaryan
Logging Continues
[October 29, 2007]
67-year old Yura Ghiyasyan lives with his wife, Nadia, in their two-story home in the Tavush village of Ditavan. Their two daughters are married in Russia and their son followed them and moved there as well, where he works and supports his parents. Parts of Yura's yard are covered with rows of firewood, seemingly for the winter. But they use the wood throughout the year, not just to heat their house in the cold season.
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 Sara Petrosyan
Officials Endorse Symphony of Stone Destruction
[October 22, 2007]
On October 14, the valley of Garni was relatively calm. The noise made by the drills used to destroy the Symphony of Stone had temporarily ceased, perhaps because it was a Sunday and it was unnecessary to reveal one's barbaric side to the tourists marveling at the beauty of the cliff.
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Fast Growing Tree Project In Armenia
[October 08, 2007]
Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America (AESA) has been keeping you informed of the situation with the its Fast Growing Tree Project in Armenia during last year. We are please to announce that we were able to get back the nursery in Armavier, which is approximately one hectare of land from 14 hectares of land that is illegally taken by the minister of finance.
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 Edik Baghdasaryan
Is the Alaverdi Copper Foundry On the Verge of Closing?
[September 17, 2007]
- When was the last time the Ministry of Environmental Protection conducted an inspection of the Alaverdi copper smelting facility?
- An inspection of the copper smelter was last made in 2004, when the mine wasn’t in operation. There were no major violations of the environmental codes found.
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Larisa Paremuzyan
Vallex Fails to Fulfill Promises
[July 16, 2007]
Despite the coverage of environmental issues in the Armenian media, the demands of the people and the government towards industries have remained unchanged.
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Lena Nazaryan
In Armenia Waste is Not Yet Profitable
[June 25, 2007]
According to Republic of Armenia's Ministry of Urban Construction, every year over 700,000 tons of waste are generated in the country.
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Naira Bulghadaryan
The Forest is Receding
[January 08, 2007]
Precious plants are nearing extinction in the forest area surrounding Vanadzor.
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