Who and How Decided to 'Replace' Trees in Yerevan: A List Released

On March 23, the Yerevan Municipality's "Greening and Environmental Protection" agency announced the start of work to "replace aged, nearly defunct trees with viable, decorative trees." The work began at the Cascade, where the felling of large trees raised a wave of protests among citizens. Because the term "tree replacement" seemed more akin to "slaughter." It was announced that Sakura trees would be planted in place of the felled trees at the Cascade.

The Yerevan Municipality's "Greening and Environmental Protection" agency published the minutes of a scientific conference that took place on February 23, 2023, at the municipality. The minutes reveal that the agenda discussed two important issues: (1) replacing trees nearing the end of their viability and those that are completely deformed with valuable and decorative trees, and (2) the removal of invasive trees.

The participants noted that the state of greening in Yerevan is inadequate for the restoration and further development of urban green spaces according to modern standards. The green plantings in Yerevan are not providing sufficient ecosystem services. Deformed and/or nearly defunct tree species have lost their functional significance. Common public green spaces often offer mere numerical presence without fulfilling functional purposes.

As a result of the scientific conference, it was decided to gradually carry out the replacement of completely deformed and nearly defunct tree species with the same or more substantiated species. The removal of invasive tree species will be carried out in an orderly manner and/or replaced.

The participants confirmed their decisions with signatures.

Ecologist Kristina Vardanyan also responded to all this on Facebook, stating, "The relevant law enforcement bodies indeed have work to do. Please read the minutes of this much-discussed conference. It states that the people who signed this minutes confirm that the trees subject to replacement should be replaced with the SAME or MORE SUBSTANTIATED, VALUABLE, AND DECORATIVE TREE SPECIES. The other point concerns invasive species. Again, I repeat what I explained quite extensively to the representatives of the agency: urban greening is part of urban planning, and any decision must stem from a comprehensive solution to the issues of other areas of urban planning. A tree is not just a tree; it is also an urban construction unit with a specific functionality that must exhibit characteristics appropriate to the given environment. Now, can a Sakura tree in a heavily trafficked street area with a bustling sidewalk have better attributes than mulberry trees in that same area? Which expert would risk making such an assertion? Let’s see. I do not know how those in charge will come out of this predicament. Law enforcement bodies have even more work to do," wrote the specialist.

According to a publication from "Hetq" on March 24, a contract to purchase Sakura trees was signed on February 14, meaning before this scientific conference. Then, after the conference on February 27, another agreement was signed and modifications to quantities were made.

According to the state procurement system armeps.am, on February 14, 2023, the agency signed a procurement contract with "Green Fairy" LLC, which is obliged to supply a total of 150 Sakura tree saplings for this amount. The Yerevan Municipality acquired each Sakura sapling for 65,000 to 72,000 AMD.