Author: Karakhanian Suren

ARMENIA TREE PROJECT
400 W Cummings Park, Suite 3900
Woburn, MA 01801
Tel: (617) 926-TREE 
Web: www.ArmeniaTree.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lessons from #ForestSummit19
Armenia Tree Project and Agrarian University Initiate New Training Programs to 
Develop Much-Needed Specialists
By Jason Sohigian
Speakers on several panels at Forest Summit: Global Action and Armenia 
highlighted a common theme that is at once alarming, and a call for proactive 
action and resources. This is the lack of specialists in the fields of nursery 
management and forestry. Many speakers identified the challenge, and it has been 
confirmed by Armenia Tree Project's experience on the ground, in trying to build 
the capacity of its nursery and tree planting staff.
This issue is of special importance since Armenia announced its ambitious goal 
to double its forest cover by 2050. This will require significant resources in 
terms of financing, seedling capacity, and human resources in the form of 
trained experts who are familiar with techniques such as tree propagation, 
nursery management, site identification, tree planting, and long-term tree care 
and management.
The issue was brought to the forefront during the Summit's first panel, in a 
discussion about the key challenges and opportunities to increase Armenia's 
forest coverage. In addressing some of the gaps, Hovik Sayadyan, technical task 
leader at UNDP Armenia, pointed out that there are no institutes for forest 
management in Armenia, in particular for forest inventory, afforestation, or 
forest management.
Vardan Urutyan, rector at Armenia's National Agrarian University, expanded on 
this issue with a number of challenges around forest education. For example, 
financial resources are often insufficient for training specialists and there 
are few graduates from the Agrarian University. Those who do graduate often 
cannot find employment in this sector. He cited the need to improve the 
attractiveness and competitiveness of the forestry profession.
Given the challenges, there is an expectation within Armenia that more trained 
professionals must be developed in order to succeed in expanding the forest 
cover and managing the existing forests. 
Dr. Urutyan discussed a number of target areas for the Agrarian University, 
including contemporary forest science labs, endowment funds to support forest 
education, updated training materials, ongoing education for lecturers, and 
incentives to encourage and reward scientific research.
The issue of capacity and shortage of trained professionals was also raised by 
Karen Manvelyan, director of WWF Armenia, in a panel on impacts and gaps of 
forestry initiatives supported by international organizations. Mr. Manvelyan 
pointed out that for organizations that do have specialists on staff, such as 
Armenia Tree Project, reforestation and afforestation projects have been 
implemented successfully. However in some other cases in Armenia where relevant 
specialists were not consulted, the results have been less successful.
"We picked up on this common theme at the Forest Summit, and it is something 
that Armenia Tree Project has also noticed when we have job openings or expand 
into new program areas," notes Arthur Harutyunyan, ATP's operations manager in 
Armenia. "There have been cases where young professionals apply for a job, and 
they don't have any real-world experience in a tree nursery, or may even have 
difficulty identifying species in a forest. This needs to change, and we are 
committed to helping to improve the capacity of professionals in our field."
A new partnership between ATP and the National Agrarian University has emerged 
to address this problem. Students at the university will conduct internships and 
field research at ATP's nurseries and greenhouses. A pilot program will be held 
this year with the support of UNDP. 
"Already we have hosted a number of students and professionals at our nurseries 
and other locations for training," explains Harutyunyan. "This partnership with 
the Agrarian University will expand the program and help us educate a new cadre 
of young professionals, as well as people currently working in our field who may 
need to learn about the latest techniques and methods."
ATP's facilities and planting locations offer a number of learning 
opportunities, including nursery management, greenhouse management, forest 
management, urban forestry, and fruit tree production. "Our programs are wide 
ranging, from site selection for a new forest to knowing which types of trees 
need to be planted at a certain location, or establishing a fruit orchard in a 
town," adds Harutyunyan. "We are encouraged by this collaboration and hope it 
plays a constructive role in Armenia's goal to expand its forests."
There were many topics identified at the Forest Summit where additional 
training, study, and capacity building are needed. These include the need to 
study and understand Armenia's biodiversity and the potential impact of invasive 
species, creating and implementing sustainable forest management plans, tree 
nursery management, and wildfire prevention. 
The 30-year reforestation plan will create many job opportunities; creating a 
trained workforce to fill those jobs is essential.