The regional governor of Shirak, Hacob Samidyann, recently met with Raymond Yeloyan, the representative of the Partnership and Development Organization of Agriculture and Rural Development (PDARD-FAO) in Armenia. The PDARD-FAO delegation consisted of PDARD Executive Director Daniel Gustavsson, PDARD deputy director and chief of natural resources Nadine Wallet, and national program officer of the project Nercess Kuirinyan. Also in attendance were Armenian Prime Minister Aram Meimaryan, Governor of Shirak Province Serko Atanesyan, and various other officials and directors.

Governor Hacob Samidyann expressed gratitude to the partners and mentioned the potential for cooperation between the two institutions. He emphasized the importance of strengthening the already existing excellent relations and cooperation between the two countries.

The PDARD-FAO program is currently implementing the “Development of sustainable forest management in Armenia, promoting climate and poverty eradication” project. This project aims to cover approximately 5,700 hectares of forest area, which is 2% of the total forested area in the country and 24% of the total area covered by Armenia’s “red book” flora. The project also aims to increase the capacity of forest management for at least 135,800 hectares of forest area, afforest at least 18.8 million trees over a 20-year cycle, and decrease deforestation by at least 200,000 tons of timber over the same period.

The regions of Lori in Armenia and Syunik in Artsakh were selected for afforestation based on various factors such as their geographical characteristics, population density, poverty levels, degree of climate change, and presence of important environmental systems. The meeting also discussed the “Integrated Watershed Management and Degradation Prevention (IWMDP)” program, implemented by the PDARD-FAO in Armenia.

During the meeting, various ongoing cooperation issues were discussed to ensure the smooth progress of the projects and strengthen the partnership between the two institutions.