Developer Commits to Plant 9 Pines in Mashtots Park Instead of Cut Plane Trees: Hakob Karapetyan

Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan has come under criticism on the Armenian segment of Facebook. Users are reminding the mayor with the hashtag "Hayko jan, sirun chi" that years ago he fought against the felling of trees in Mashtots Park, but now, as mayor, trees are still being cut down. They posted a video from 2012 where Hayk Marutyan advocated for the preservation of Mashtots Park.

Days ago, on July 31, Levon Zakaryan, a member of the Yerevan Council from the "My Step" faction, published photos on his Facebook page stating that he does not consider what is happening in Mashtots Park to be right. "A building of stone and concrete in the park, cut and mutilated trees. I demand an answer from the one who grants construction permits and the one who gives the right to cut down trees," he said.

In an interview with NEWS.am, the mayor's press secretary Hakob Karapetyan stated that he does not know which organization is conducting construction in that area but emphasized that the area has been leased for a long time. "A lease agreement has been in effect there for two or more decades before us, and it will remain in force for another one to two decades. There has been a café there; as far as I remember, it has been there since at least 1998, and in the fall of 2019, they applied for permission to improve the area within the same volumes," noted Hakob Karapetyan, adding, "The same owner has been operating the café within those volumes for years. Therefore, there has been no change of owner or volumes."

Regarding the tree felling, Karapetyan responded: "I think that although the area is sensitive, the genuine concerns of the people are understandable, however, I must emphasize that the concerns are somewhat exaggerated, as the green space in the area is not being reduced." The mayor's spokesperson referenced a statement from the "Greening and Environment" NGO, which indicated that the cut trees were unhealthy and unviable. "As for what caused them to be damaged, the specialists do not specify; it could be due to an aggressive environment, or it could be a result of being encased in concrete for 20 years, or the consequences of construction in recent years. In any case, the trees are damaged and weakened. The plane tree species is generally undesirable for several reasons, and there is a goal to gradually remove this species from the city’s greening fund and replace it with other trees. Specifically, in this area, instead of the four sections of plane trees, the developer has committed in writing to plant 9 pines as part of compensatory greening, and these should not be thin, narrow, small branches but should be seedlings with a trunk diameter of 10-15 cm, which can be considered trees at the time of planting, not to mention that they will become substantial trees in 2-3 years," added Hakob Karapetyan.

According to the statement from the "Greening and Environment" NGO, the operator is obliged to regularly improve and green the surrounding area of the park. "Some of the work has already been completed, and the rest will be done after the completion of construction works. Tree planting will be carried out in November, under the strict supervision of our specialists," the statement concluded.