ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
65 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472 USA
Tel: (617) 926-TREE
Email: [email protected]
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PRESSS RELEASE
July 20, 2011
ATP Creates New Green Spaces in 112 Communities throughout Armenia This
Spring
YEREVAN–Armenia Tree Project (ATP) has partnered with 112 communities
throughout Armenia to plant 30,047 decorative trees, shrubs, and fruit trees
this spring. The work was led by the flagship Community Tree Planting
Program, which has been operating since ATP’s founding in 1994.
“Each season, we try to involve as many new communities as possible, and
this past spring 25 out of the 112 communities were new ATP partners,”
explained Arthur Harutyunyan, head monitor of ATP’s Community Tree Planting
Program.
ATP has planted trees in over 800 sites throughout Armenia, and every year
more communities apply to ATP for trees. “If the site suits our requirements
for irrigation, having a gardener, and a commitment to providing ongoing
tree care, we collaborate with the community by providing seedlings,
training, and professional advice,” added Harutyunyan.
Tree planting was implemented this year in the regions of Aragatsotn,
Ararat, Armavir, Gegharkunik, Kotayk, Lori, Shirak, Syunik, Tavush, and
Vayots Dzor, as well as in Yerevan and Artsakh.
ATP participated in a number of ceremonial plantings this spring, including
a tree planting with United Nations Department of Public Information,
Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Avan administrative district
of Yerevan. The event was dedicated to Earth Day and it was organized in the
framework of the UN’s International Year of Forests. After a brief lesson on
how to plant a tree, government officials, ambassadors, and representatives
of the international community planted 420 trees and established “Park of
Friendship” in the Avan community.
ATP also collaborated with local and international organizations operating
in Armenia. “Our partnership with HSBC Bank Armenia has become a
long-standing tradition to create new urban green spaces,” noted
Harutyunyan. “This spring, HSBC Bank joined ATP in organizing tree planting
events in the center of Yerevan and in the Nor Nork community. HSBC staff
and their families joined local residents to plant nearly 300 new trees.”
Within the framework of ATP’s Building Bridges environmental education
program, students from the Hovnanian School in New Jersey met their peers
from Yerevan School No. 168 to plant trees around the school. Before getting
to work, the students made friends by introducing themselves, playing name
games, and learning more about each other. This was followed by a short
training by Arthur Harutunyan about how to plant a tree. After the planting,
the local students showed the guests around their school and spent some time
together.
Tree plantings were organized at several other schools, churches, and
orphanages around Armenia this spring. Sites that were beautified by ATP
include Yerablur Military Cemetery, boarding schools in Yerevan and Artik, a
scout camp in Yerevan, the Armenian United Cross NGO in Etchmiadzin, a
senior center in Lori, and the SOS orphanage in Ijevan. ATP also provided
fruit trees to families in Berdzor and Tsitsernavank in Artsakh.
Greening Armenian churches has always been a major program area for ATP. In
the past 17 years, ATP has planted trees around hundreds of church yards and
surrounding areas. This spring, ATP planted at the St. Astvatsatsin and St.
Khach churches in Yerevan, St. Harutyun, Etchmiadzin Cathedral, and St.
Astvatsatin churches in Armavir, Srbots Haghtakats church in Teghenik, St.
Astvatsatsin in Arevshat village, and St. Maryanne in Ashtarak.
ATP’s mission is to assist the Armenian people in using trees to improve
their standard of living and protect the environment, guided by the need to
promote self-sufficiency, aid those with the fewest resources first, and
conserve the indigenous ecosystem. ATP’s three major programs are tree
planting, environmental education, and sustainable development initiatives.
For more information about ATP, please visit the web site