Queen Mathilde of Belgium inaugurates Belgian-Armenian Forest

Queen Mathilde of Belgium, during her trip to Armenia as an advocate for the UN Sustainable Development Goals, visited the Belgian-Armenian Forest—a reforestation project by My Forest Armenia—near Lake Sevan, in the province of Gegharkunik, close to the village of Tsaghkunk.

As part of the official groundbreaking ceremony, Queen Mathilde planted her namesake tree in the Armenian-Belgian Forest as a symbol of friendship between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of Armenia.

My Forest Armenia Founder and Executive Director André Gumuchdjian, a Belgian-Armenian philanthropist and entrepreneur, along with his team and local authorities, welcomed Her Majesty the Queen of Belgium.

The new forest will consist of 60,000 trees and covers an area of 20 hectares. It was created through a fundraiser made possible by donations from Belgians and Belgian-Armenians.

“It is a great honor for us that Her Majesty Queen Mathilde is inaugurating this young forest, thereby highlighting the vital importance of forests. Forests are a source of life on our planet. The mission of My Forest Armenia—to expand and restore Armenia’s forest cover—is more relevant than ever. As the country prepares to host the COP-17 Conference on Biodiversity next year, we must allocate greater resources to the sustainable restoration of forests and treat local biodiversity with respect,” said André Gumuchdjian.

My Forest Armenia, an environmental non-governmental organization, was founded in 2019. Since then, it has reforested 825 hectares of land, planting over 2,600,000 trees.