EU NEIGHBOURS. An EU-funded project has been launched to protect the largest freshwater lake in the Caucasus region and the most significant source of freshwater, irrigation water, aquaculture, as well as hydropower source in Armenia. The overall budget for the ‘Environmental Protection of Lake Sevan’ (EU4SEVAN) project is €5.7 million.
EU4SEVAN will improve the wastewater treatment by public and private stakeholders through nature-based solutions. It will also support ecosystem-friendly and water-protecting land-use and cultivation, water monitoring and management capacities. The project also aims to raise awareness about the significance of the protection of Lake Sevan among the basin communities, the private sector, and other stakeholders.
The project will also implement fast–track activities to offset the economic and social consequences of COVID-19. They include the planting of around 600,000 willow cuttings and fruit trees in the riparian zones of a number of rivers in Gegharkunik, as well as the collection of waste from riverbeds and riverbank vicinities in spring 2021, and ensuring short-term employment for 750 residents most affected by the socio-economic consequences of COVID-19. EU4SEVAN will also support local farmers in cultivating new varieties of cabbage to increase the income of local farmers and to halve their water consumption.
The project will last from September 2020 till August 2024.
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Photo: European Union
