Armenia’s nature saved the country in hard times, now it is our duty to protect it, says Pashinyan

Armenia’s government and citizens have a debt to repay to the state, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in his opening remarks at the COP17 Leaders’ Summit in Yerevan.

“This is a special topic for the Government of the Republic of Armenia, and we feel a special responsibility toward our nature. During difficult times for Armenia, our nature saved us, and we had the misfortune of abusing it. In the 1990s, the country found itself under blockade; there was insufficient electricity, gas or coal, and people heated their homes mainly with wood. Under these conditions, mass deforestation began in Armenia’s forests, becoming one of the profitable businesses amid the near-total absence of normal economic activity. Thus, thousands of hectares of forests and green areas were cut down in Armenia, and poaching became widespread, causing severe damage to our nature and biodiversity. A similar situation arose at Lake Sevan: in the early 1990s, when import and production chains had broken down and there were daily food shortages in Armenia, the fish stocks of Lake Sevan came to our rescue,” the Prime Minister said at the summit held under the “Leaders for Nature” motto.

Pashinyan noted that after becoming Prime Minister as a result of the 2018 revolution, one of his first instructions was to halt illegal logging.

“Protests began in my birthplace, Tavush, because many people were making a living through illegal logging, continuing the practices of the 1990s. On this occasion, I visited the village of Haghartsin, my father’s village. People were very aggressive, and I tried to explain to them that preserving the forest could earn them much more than logging. One or two years later, many people engaged in illegal logging changed their line of work. Using the same vehicles they had used to transport wood to markets, they began transporting tourists into forests and mountains to show them the wildlife,” Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister of Armenia emphasized that significant work had also been carried out to preserve biodiversity.

“Over the past 10 years, the total stock of whitefish in Lake Sevan has increased more than tenfold, reaching over 4,500 tons after having been on the verge of extinction. The Caucasian leopard was considered an endangered species in Armenia; today, its population in the country is estimated at 6–7 individuals, and two cubs were also recorded in 2024,” the Prime Minister said.

Pashinyan noted that it was a great honor for Armenia to host the Leaders’ Summit and the COP17 conference. The Prime Minister expressed hope that the event would be effective and contribute to protecting the biodiversity of planet Earth.