Mt. Aragats Region

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Hi all, As I was preparing this blog, Dick Walton wrote to ask me to encourage bloggers to visit the website that has been created for the Pryor Mountains in Montana. There is a great need for civil society in Montana to contact the US Forest Service to encourage a rational travel plan that restricts the movement of off road vehicles. The website presents the issues in a clear way and with beautiful photos. Enjoy: www.pryormountains.org

Fall has arrived in Armenia. Women in our apartment yard are busy fluffing the sheep’s wool in their mattresses and airing out the bedding to prepare for winter. Tom, Marian, and I made our first trip to Mt. Aragats (about one hour from Yerevan) a couple days before Marian returned to Billings. On the way to the mountain we stopped by the Alphabet monument that celebrates Mashtots invention of the Armenian alphabet—the letters are very beautiful but difficult to learn. On one trip to Lake Sevan we stopped by the obsidian cliffs to select some pieces from the piles of obsidian exposed in the road cut.

Wet weather and lack of time kept Marian, our entomologist friend Gayane, Tom, and me from getting to the summit of Aragats during our first trip. But Tom and I returned the next weekend, spent the night at the Cosmic Ray Observatory Dormitory “Hotel” and had beautiful weather to climb the South Peak (12,800 feet)—only about a 3 hour trip to the south summit of Aragats from the Observatory. One party of two reached the summit about ½ hour before us and had already headed down by the time we arrived. We had the summit to ourselves for the ½ hour that we spent eating lunch and enjoying the view of the North Peak, over 13,000 feet-- looked like quite a tricky climb along a narrow and highly erosive volcanic ridge.

We had a practice hike the day before, walking from the Observatory 18 km. downhill along open mountain meadows to Amberd fortress and church. A Kurd boy, Jamal, surprised us as he rode up on his horse. He spends his summer days watching after his herd of cows. There were numerous Kurd summer encampments along our walking route to the fortress.

Beekeepers tend their hives along the mountain road to Aragats and Tom enjoyed purchasing honey from a roadside stand. The temperature in Yerevan at 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon was well over 100 degrees. Fortunately the days have cooled considerably this week. We’re already planning our next adventure this weekend.

And there is a photo of a the oligarch's house-- a touch of Louis XIV or something (perhaps a diversion of American tax dollars) on the trip back to Yerevan

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Comments

[Bev]

Interesting...are there no trees? The country looks bare.

[Dr Jenny]

Trees?
Trees are scarce here in Armenia. The ENERGY CRISIS which lasted five years after the break up of the USSR meant that with no functioning nuclear plant and no central heating plant Armenians had to devise wood stoves in each apartment and cut trees in city parks and around villages to get through the winter. Also, there has been an overgrazing issue for a very long time so that the soil scientist who spoke in my class yesterday showed how at least one meter of the soil profile has eroded away in many, many places--that is the whole O horizon or organic layer plus the underling A layer (usually 12-18 inches deep) and the layer under that. So...in many areas it will be tough to restore forests. There are people here like USDA, European agricultural and forestry groups, and NGOs who see the problems, but what do we do with the nomadic or at least summer camps of herding peoples--they need to eat. So, the economic base is an issue--a rich upper stratum of society, a small middle-class, and the rest (sound familiar?).

[Anna B]

trees - "who see the problem"
Gosh Dr. Jenny, if they see the problem, what are they doing to replace the trees? It really does seem barren. Do they have something like an Arbor Day yearly? What are the forestry groups doing besides seeing the problem?

[Dr Jenny]

Trees
Hi Anna!! Yes there are non-governmental organizations helping to replant trees. The Armenian Tree Project has planted over 1 million trees and the Armenian Forest Organization is also busy. But the problem is enormous--there is much illegal logging also. It is a huge problem here-- some of the ancient trees are old walnut trees and beech trees that are worth a lot of money. They are shipped out of Armenia or used for furniture and flooring here. Lots to do here--hope we can begin to change people's ideas about their environment. Fondly, Jenny

[Norm]

The next obvious step...
So, hey, Dr. Jenny. The next obvious step for folks like us is to contribute to the Armenian Tree Project or the Armenian Forest Organization. Who does the best work? How do we send them our $$$ support? Every tree that we donate will work against global warming and may do its bit to restore the Armenian ecosystem.

[Ann H]

Gorgeous Photos!
Hi Jen, Thanks for the update. These have been fascinating. As a native of eastern Montana, I am not disturbed visually by the lack of trees. I definitely see the problem with over logging, etc. Ecology concerns must be difficult to address in a relatively poor country. Keep up the fight! Ann

[Dr Jenny]

Ways to help
The Armenian Tree Project is a wonderful NGO. They are a member of the EcoArmenia Alliance which consists of my university--AUA, WWF, and the Armenian Forest Organization. The US headquarters for ATP is in Boston and that is most likely where donations are accepted. Then the funds come to Armenia as they need them to buy trees. ATP has planted a million trees and has that many more seedlings ready to go--but it isn't as easy to plant them as one might think. Once community land is planted with trees and they grow up then, according to Armenian law, forests become government property. So the law has to be changed to protected village common agricultural and grazing land adjacent to their towns. Interesting I think. I hope you will contribute to ATP--the money is definitely used wisely. Warm regards, Jenny