The decision of the RoA government to sell off the Crimean pine grove now located in the Jrvezh Park has provoked the ire of the Armenian Botanist Society (ABS).

The ABS has dispatched letters to RoA National Assembly President Hovik Abrahamyan, RoA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Minister of the Environment Aram Harutyunyan, protesting the confiscation of some 20 hectares of the grove and allocating the site to the community of Voghjraberd.

The ABS claims that a host of Academy of Science academicians and PhD. degree holders and candidates support the protest.

The pine grove was planted some 30 years ago and is an oasis of green the year-round which elps clean the air around Yerevan.

The government’s recent decision seems to contradict the fact that the grove is part of a forest park set aside by the Ministry of the Environment and thus national property.

The ABS calls the government’s attention to this fact, arguing that the recent decision is a violation of the Environment Ministry’s jurisdiction of the grove.

“We wish to express our disagreement with the decision that will hand over this unique pine grove, the result of years of hard work and tender care, to the community of Voghjraberd. We strongly urge you to review the decision which, in our estimation, is unwise.”

www.hetq.am