Fight Against Illegal Logging Poses Serious Problems for Residents in Forest-Rich Regions

The newspaper "Hayastan" writes: The announced tightening of measures against illegal logging has placed the population of forest-rich regions in serious problems. Of course, it is necessary to combat illegal logging and it is essential to preserve forests. However, when there are no alternative solutions available, the result is an even more difficult situation.

Particularly, in the regions of Lori and Tavush, residents are simply facing a stark reality as winter approaches, with the price of a cubic meter of wood reaching unprecedented levels of 23,000 to 25,000 drams.

In conversations with reporters from the newspaper, residents complained that they are absolutely unable to pay such amounts to secure fuel for the winter. “We can’t afford to heat with gas, nor can we pay 25,000 drams for a cubic meter of wood. If things go on like this, we’ll have to resort to anything,” said one of the villagers in an interview with the newspaper.

The government has chosen an apparently alternative measure to alleviate this issue, which, however, is not effective: it allows for the collection of so-called "old logs." It has been proposed to provide each family with a coupon to obtain 8 cubic meters of wood valued at 8,000 drams. However, this refers to areas of the forest that are inaccessible, where no machinery can reach, and there are no favorable conditions for wood gathering.

One resident expressed their frustration, stating that “first of all, 8 cubic meters is not enough to get through the entire winter, and secondly, the places we can collect from will cost up to 20,000 drams just to transport to our homes.” As a result, people are facing a serious problem as winter approaches, and it is not excluded that they may resort to extreme measures related to this issue.

Details can be found in the newspaper's current issue.