The government of Armenia has proclaimed clean agriculture, tourism, and mining industry as primary spheres. But open-pit metal mining is a threat to the first two spheres. Environmentalist Karine Danielyan mentioned about this on “World Environment Day”. Karine Danielyan, who is also the chairwoman of the “For Sustainable Human Development” NGO, noted that mining industry harms the environment in Armenia the most. The chairman of the “Healthy Environment” NGO Movses Manukyan shared the same opinion. According to him, Amulsar is the most significant example nowadays, whose operation has put the Lake Sevan and Jermuk resort at risk.
According to Mrs. Danielyan. research shows that Lori and Syunik are the most affected regions by mining, where the percentage of morbidity and mortality is the highest. She says, that the existence of small hydropower plants in the country is not justified either, since the operators do not comply with the standards and carelessly use the rivers, whereas in developed countries, their existence is perceived positively.
Karine Danielyan believes that indiscriminate treatment towards the environment comes from the lack of environmental education. According to her, the ecological culture is shaped by being educated.
Lusine BUDAGHYAN
