More than half of 15 million trees planted over 10 years take root
The ArmForest state non-commercial organization has planted 15 million trees over the past 10 years, ArmForest director Martun Matevosyan said today.
Speaking to a news conference he said more than half of these trees have taken root. Matevosyan said also illegal felling of trees is the main factor affecting the overall area of forests in the country.
According to him, in 1994 about 500,000 cases of illegal felling of trees were registered. In 2001 this figure fell to 33,000 and to 2000 in 2015 in ArmForest supervised areas.
According to Matevosyan, illegal felling of trees is practiced largely by local villagers who use the wood for heating purposes.
According to the Fund for the Protection of Wildlife and Cultural Heritage (FPWC), forests cover only 7.5-11.3% of the territory of the country whose total territory is 29,700 square kilometers.-0-