Armenia

Environmental Concerns

Eight percent of Armenians do not have sustained access to safe drinking water, and 16 percent do not have access to improved sanitation. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Human Development Reports rank Armenia 83rd among 232 nations in overall quality-of-life issues.

Environmental problems, many of them legacies of authoritarian rule and conflict with neighbors, including Azerbaijan, are extensive in Armenia. The soil is heavily polluted from the use of pesticides such as DDT. Around 12.4 percent of land area is forested. Extensive deforestation began during the energy crisis of the 1990s, as Armenians burned [Page 73]trees for firewood. Illegal logging has continued in response to the demand for timber.

The Hrazdan and Aras Rivers are heavily polluted, and drinking water supplies have been threatened by the draining of Lake Sevan as a hydropower source. Desertification has become an issue in certain areas, and the government has replaced parks and other natural areas with homes and businesses. In 2005, the government announced plans to build a major highway through the Shikahogh Nature Reserve, placing 1,000 species of plants and wildlife at risk and destroying tens of thousands of trees.

While 7.6 percent of Armenia's land is protected, reserved areas are vulnerable to the whims of the government. Of 84 endemic species of mammals, 11 are threatened with extinction. Four of 236 species of birds are also endangered. Environmentalists around the globe are greatly concerned about the reopening of the Metsamor nuclear power plant, which closed after the 1988 earthquake.

There is considerable international pressure on the government to shut down the plant. A study by Yale University in 2006 ranked Armenia 69th of 132 countries on environmental performance, slightly below the relevant income and geographic groups. The lowest scores were in the categories of air quality, water resources, and sustainable energy.

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