Government to establish 'Jermuk' national park next to Amulsar
The Armenian Government plans to establish 'Jermuk' National Park from 2017 to 2020. The aim is to ensure the integrity of ecosystems, as 'State program of preservation and use of specially protected areas of Armenia and measures for 2014-2020' document says approved by the executive on 25 September. WWF Armenia Director Karen Manvelyan in one of his interviews given to EcoLur said that of Amulsar mine is located within the buffer zone of 'Jermuk' national park, open pit mining is not possible. Endangered species can't be transferred from this area. 'Let's say we can transfer plants. but we can't transfer bears, while small animals as snakes, mice etc will remain under the heavy machinery,' Karen Manvelyan said. Under Karen Manvelyan, the potential area of 'Jermuk' national park has 50 red-listed animal species and 40-50 red-listed plant species. Amulsar area has 22 endangered species. By the way, Lydian International Company sees 'Jermuk' National Park a way of mitigating the adversary impacts of Amulsar gold mine development, EcoLur NGO reports.
