257 Illegal Tree Cuts Discovered in Various Forest Areas of Dilijan National Park

The state interests protection department of the RA Prosecutor's Office has examined the documents regarding the results of inspections conducted in forested areas of the Dilijan National Park, revealing numerous illegal tree cuttings committed by officials due to negligent or careless attitudes towards their service duties.

Specifically, under an order issued in August 2019 by the head of the RA Environmental and Mining Inspection, inspectors from the biodiversity monitoring division and inspectors from Yerevan, Tavush, and Shirak conducted inspections in the forested areas of the Dilijan National Park covering the period from November 2017 until the end of inspections.

During the partial inspections, 257 stumps of illegally cut trees of various species and sizes were recorded, with 92 found in the "Haghartsin" area, 54 in "Shamakhi," and 111 in the "Dilijan" sections. According to the assessment reports, the illegal felling of the trees has caused more than 28 million AMD in damage to nature.

According to Article 26, Part 3 of the Forest Code, officials of the state forest service are obliged to prevent violations of forest legislation within their competences, conduct proceedings on violations of forest legislation, and submit referrals to the relevant state body for imposing administrative or criminal liability on individuals for violations. They are also authorized to file lawsuits for compensation of damages caused to the forestry within their jurisdiction. However, officials of the Dilijan National Park have not properly fulfilled their obligations outlined in this article and did not detect any illegally cut trees in the inspected areas from November 25, 2017, until September 30, 2019, nor did they create any records of forest violations.

Considering the information obtained from the inspections carried out by the Environmental and Mining Inspection and the RA Prosecutor's Office, which includes apparent indications of criminal acts causing serious consequences due to negligence or carelessness by officials in their service duties, a criminal case has been initiated under Article 315, Part 2, and Article 296, Part 3 of the RA Criminal Code. The criminal case has been sent to the Investigative Committee of the RA for further investigation.