Territory of Khosrov Reserve may enlarge by 8 thousand hectares

ArmInfo. The territory of the Khosrov Reserve can Territory of Khosrov Reserve may enlarge by 8 thousand hectares. Minister of Environment of the Republic of Armenia  Erik Grigoryan at a December 25 press conference announced this.

According to him, this indicator is based on the results of studies.  As noted, only those territories that are of interest from the point  of view of biodiversity protection are taken into account. The  ministry's proposal to increase the territories of the Khosrov  Reserve has been submitted for consideration to the relevant  structures.

Grigoryan also informed that this year the ministry's staff carried  out mapping of 44 abandoned mining areas and 5 tailing dumps. Based  on their results, a plan was developed for the reclamation of two  abandoned tailing dumps located near the communities of Sotk and  Tantsut. According to the minister, acid drainage (outflow of acidic  water) takes place in the above deposits. We add that, according to  experts, acid drainage in itself is a serious threat to hydrobionts  (aquatic organisms), since they die under acidic conditions Speaking  about environmental issues, Grigoryan also touched upon the situation  with underground water sources in Ararat and Armavir. So, over the  past year, work was completed to close 8 artesian wells and to  preserve 43. 

In addition, at the expense of economic entities, another 26 wells  were mothballed. In another 20 wells, the minister noted, a closed  regime began to operate. As a result, we managed to save water use volumes of 3 thousand liters / sec., Which exceeds the annual volume  of drinking water consumption in Yerevan.  Work is also underway to  solve problems in the field of small hydropower plants. 

Thus, new standards for fish farmers have been developed and  submitted for approval, which, according to Grigoryan, will make it  possible to restore the fish population in rivers within two to three  years.  

As for the forest sector, significant results in the fight  against forest smuggling have been achieved thanks to a tougher  punishment for illegal logging. This year, with funding from the  Russian Federation and UNDP assistance, 360 sets of fire-fighting  clothing were provided to "Hayantar" employees. In addition, for the  first time, employees of all "Hayantar" branches were given winter  and summer overalls, and from October 1, the salary of 611 employees  of this SNPO increased by 20 thousand drams. The minister also  recalled that for the first time 425 million drams were allocated  from the state budget for reforestation.