Reports on Environment and Urban Development for Alaverdy

GEO ALAVERDI: ENVIRONMENT AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Are the existing capacities suf fi cient for the solution of the mentioned environmental issues? Compared to the other Marzes, the number of civil servants in the Department of Agriculture and Nature Protection of the Lori Marzpetaran is the biggest. However, only two members of the personnel from that department really deal with environmental issues. At the same time, the Marz has several serious environmental challenges, one of which is the development of a regional environmental program for Rivers Debed and Khrami, as well as the protection of forests, programs on production of copper in Alaverdi and Akhtala and Vanadzor chemical plant. It is natural that the two civil servants will be able to effectively solve the mentioned issues. It will be necessary also to have the remaining fi ve members of the staff, who are in charge of soil protection, pass training sessions. The Marz of Lori experiences also fi nancial problems. There have been two funds established in the Marz for the solution of the mentioned issues (one of which is for the elimination of emergency consequences). These funds have been successfully established and active for the last fi ve years. Actions are being taken for enhancing the funding sources and involvement of new stakeholders. The TACIS program has supported the Marz of Lori in establishment of proper Marz-Community, Community- Community and Community-Civil Society relations, the clear progress of which has been reported. Nevertheless, the relations between the mentioned instances are weak. In reality, the cooperation between the Marzes has resulted in solution of several important issues. The water resources of Lori, Shirak and Tavush marzes are interconnected, thus the cooperation among the Marzpetarans is essential for effective solution of water related issues. The Marzes of Lori and Tavush use the same river – Debed. The water sources mainly originate in Lori Marz and fl ow towards the Marz of Tavush. The Water Resources Management Agency is in charge of managing the water resources. However, the neighboring Marzes do not fi nd coordinated solutions to the water management issues at stake. The forests located in the regions of Noyemberyan, Ijevan and Tumanyan of the Marzes of Lori and Tavush, are essentially considered as one large forest, which is divided by administrative borders only. For that reason, it would be more comfortable to have the Marzpetarans of Lori, Tavush and Kotayk (located in the South) cooperate in the solution of issues related to the forests. The Marz of Lori is not special for its environmental and institutional issues; the other Marzes experience the same dif fi culties. 2. Agencies with authorities of environmental management in Alaverdi The system of environmental management of Alaverdi includes the following sub-sectors: water quality and wastewater management, air quality and air

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CHAPTER 5. POLICY INTERVENTIONS AND INSTRUMENTS

Environmental Knowledge for Change