MANAGING DIRECTOR TOM GARABEDIAN CONTINUES ATP’S MISSION
ARMENIA, COMMUNITY | SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 4:25 PM
By Gabriella Gage
Mirror-Spectator Staff
WATERTOWN – In early 2012, Tom Garabedian was named the new managing
director of the Armenian Tree Project (ATP), a non-profit organization
founded to promote Armenia’s reforestation and subsequent socioeconomic
developments.
For Garabedian, a former actuary consultant, the decision to get
involved was an easy one. “There is no question that more emphasis
needs to be focused on Armenia’s environment. The Tree Project is one
of the key organizations whose sole focus is on Armenia’s environment,
and that is personally motivating,” he said.
Prior to joining the ATP team, Garabedian had worked for Aon Hewitt,
retiring in early 2011. He first joined ATP as a management consultant
for its Executive Committee. “I had an opportunity to interview
management and staff both in Watertown and Yerevan and was able to
develop a sense of ATP’s strengths and to identify areas needing
improvement,” said Garabedian. From there, Garabedian took his skills
managing both people and projects and his newly acquired intimate
knowledge of the organization into his new role as managing director
of ATP in early 2012, taking over for Jeff Masarjian.
Garabedian is responsible for all of the operations of ATP both
here and in Armenia. He oversees the finances of the organization
including fundraising and expense perspectives, the programs
underway in Armenia and staff assessment and development. While he
has far-reaching responsibilities, Garabedian is quick to credit his
fellow ATP staffers with aiding him in these endeavors. “We have very
competent managers both in Watertown and in Armenia, so that relieves
some of the pressure on the Managing Director,” said Garabedian.
While he does help to oversee operations in Armenia, his managerial
focus is in the US and Director of ATP Armenia Operations Areg
Maghakian has day-to-day control of activities there. “I usually plan
three trips to Armenia each year to meet with our managers, review our
projects both in the office and out in the field, discuss strategy
and manager development and handle any people issues that arise,”
Garabedian said.
A knack for producing results and a passion for ATP’s cause made the
position an ideal one for Garabedian.”My involvement stemmed from
a desire to be engaged in a pursuit that was both challenging and
interesting mentally and that was producing meaningful results in
Armenia, he said.
ATP was founded by Carolyn Mugar in 1994, and its primary mission
at the outset was to plant trees in urban and rural sites as a
way of overcoming the tree cutting that had occurred during the
energy blockade that Armenia experienced. According to Garabedian,
that mission led to the development of two nurseries within a short
distance of Yerevan and employment of a full-time staff in Armenia of
nearly 40 people. Since its founding, ATP has broadened its mission
to include environmental education which it accomplished by developing
a curriculum which is now in use throughout Armenia’s public schools.
New developments are always on the horizon for the organization, which
continues to evolve. Garabedian noted, “Within the past 10 years,
we established the Mirak Family Reforestation Nursery in Margahovit
to develop seedlings for large scale reforestation efforts and two
Environmental Education Centers sponsored by Michael and Virginia
Ohanian.”
There are now 60 full-time staffers in Armenia and hundreds of
seasonal and part-time workers engaged in forestry work. “As far as
new projects, we are evaluating the need for a fourth nursery in the
southern part of the country and considering ways that tree planting
could become an integral part of an expanded environmental curriculum
in every public school,” said Garabedian.
The actual planning and continued upkeep of trees after planting are
both essential to the process. One of the primary responsibilities
of planting managers is site selection. According to Garabedian,
planting managers “review potential planting sites to ensure that
there is proper soil and water and that the community is committed
to maintain trees once they’ve been planted.” He added, “We need
to ensure that our sites are protected from livestock who view our
seedlings as a tasty addition to their diets, and that often means that
we need to fence areas that are planted. Generally, we will return
to communities for a three-year period following planting to ensure
that maintenance is being handled properly.” As far as large-scale
reforestation efforts, ATP hires seasonal workers for a similar period
to cut grass around the planting sites to improve the likelihood that
seedlings will survive. “In community planting, we expect a three-year
survival rate of 85 percent or better; in forestry, the threshold is
somewhat lower because we’re at the mercy of the weather to produce
an adequate amount of water. These are expensive commitments but you
must undertake the maintenance. Otherwise you’re just wasting your
nursery stock,” he explained.
In addition to proper planning and maintenance, there are many
challenges that ATP faces in its pursuit of reforestation. Garabedian
explained, “The first challenge is recognition by the Armenian
government that deforestation and illegal logging will threaten the
country’s long-term survival. Trees deliver an abundance of benefits to
a country; they serve as a food supply, they protect against erosion,
they clean the air and protect the water supply. They are a renewable
resource and should be used, but only in a sustainable way.
He added, “We would like the government to devote more resources
to restore Armenia’s historic forest cover and to enforce existing
laws against illegal logging.” Another daunting challenge that ATP
faces is that it is one the few organizations undertaking large
scale reforestation in Armenia. “We constantly need money in order
to support our reforestation activities,” explained Garabedian.
Their education efforts are primarily directed to children through the
environment al curriculum that we’ve prepared for Armenia’s public
schools and through classes taught at the Ohanian Environmental
Education Centers. “We have conducted a few agricultural classes at
our new Ohanian Center in Margahovit specifically for the region’s
farmers. These classes are extended without cost to the participants,”
he noted.
With Garabedian at the helm, ATP is currently in the midst of
a sustainable forest management project in Margahovit. “Working
with Hayantar, the Armenian forestry agency and the village, we are
developing a pilot plan to manage a 200 hectare forest in a sustainable
way,” he said, adding, ” If the pilot is successful, we hope that
the model can be spread to other communities throughout Armenia.”
ATP has worked with several other organizations, most recently
partnering with the Norwegian government which provided a four-year,
$1.2 million grant to support reforestation activities and with the
Acopian Center for the Environment at the American University of
Armenia on “Regardening of Eden” activities in Margahovit.
For more information on ATP, to donate or to get involved, visit
– See more at: