PHOTOS: The Shikahogh Reserve No Longer Exists: Alarm Raised

Environmental journalist Narine Kirakosyan has published photographs depicting the Shikahogh Reserve, accompanied by a statement: "This area has come under Azerbaijani control and... it is painful to acknowledge that the SHIKAHOGH RESERVE no longer exists. Below the photographs is the Nerkhin Hand area, on the right side is our territory, while outside the picture to the south is the Azerbaijani military bases and positions in the Araks valley. This entire section of the photograph, featuring trenches and military positions, has been under enemy control since the 2020 war and after September 2022. This is the sovereign territory of Armenia that has been occupied by Azerbaijan. Approximately 2,900 square meters of the forested area of the Shikahogh Reserve's Mtndzori section have been destroyed by the enemy, erasing nature. This was an exceptional natural monument, a reserve. Below, about 64 hectares is the Secan grove in the Nerkhin Hand, where members of the Aliyev family came, embraced the millennium-old oaks, and took photos.

The reserve was established in 1958. According to all well-known maps from the Soviet era, this is Armenian territory. It could not have belonged in any way to Azerbaijan. A question for the Ministry of Environment: Has the reserve been abolished, and have you presented these events on international platforms? Have you changed the status of the conservation regime?

Attention, I am not saying that the Armenian side has not had to undertake certain land works for defense, and yes, there has been tree felling. I am not showing or pointing this out because we understand that it was done to resist the enemy's aggression. However, where can we see what legal data you have presented, where has the forest area gone? When were the works conducted, according to the timeline, by both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and how is the conservation being conducted, if it is being conducted at all?

Do not talk about firewood, as this is about precious hundred-year-old oak trees and other species. Have you registered this, presented it to European organizations, that we have preserved the Shikahogh Reserve like the apple of our eye, especially after the establishment of independent Armenia? Particularly in 2004, the Secan grove reserve was also improved and regulated, which has now become a region for military operations and preparations.

The day I photographed was foggy; I did not capture the entire disaster. But what appears to be a seemingly forest from afar, starting from the territory not entering the city of Kapan, on the left side of the areas occupied by Azerbaijan and the newly made roads by us, can be professionally described as a forest subject to stump restoration. In other words, if the upper layer of fertile soil was not removed in an 8-10 meter width, thick-trunked trees were cut, and only side stumps remain. It is evident in this case that certain individuals have cut down specific trees to fill their pockets.

We can demand damages from Azerbaijan in international tribunals; as for the Armenian side... let it be on your conscience. When a couple of trees were cut in Yerevan recently to plant new ones, the internet was buzzing. But why are we not making noise in this case? What about the ministry, what about the government, what about national security... do you have nothing to say? Or..." Kirakosyan wrote.