| The Republic of Armenia suffered
severe economic hardships at the beginning of the 1990s. Economic
recovery has now started, aided by a reasonably low level of
international debt. The financing of biodiversity conservation
programs is supported by a number of mechanisms, including the
State budget and foreign contributions to projects. While environmental
problems are recognised, the environment is not considered as
a national priority for public expenditure.
Limited State resources, and the low priority
placed on environmental issues, have meant that public expenditure
in this sector has to date been minimal.
The current State budget meets less than
35% of the basic needs of biodiversity conservation, and the
existing expenditure is primarily for payment of staff salaries.
Almost no investment is made into equipment or other capital
costs, and there is inadequate support for scientific research
on biodiversity.
Environmental spending is focused on three
principal areas: (1) Fisheries; (2) Forestry; and (3) Protected
areas. Additional activities covered include the funding of
the Environmental Inspectorate, which is responsible for the
enforcement of relevant legislation and regulations and for
the collection of payments for natural resource use.
Fisheries. For the year 2000 the Government
had planned to allocate AMD 10,500,000 from the State budget
for the protection and regeneration of fish stocks, but actually
allocated nothing. Thus it is currently impossible to make
an effective assessment of fish stocks, and to set sustainable
levels of fishing so as to ensure the recovery of stocks.
Forest protection activities are financed
from the State budget (AMD 108,700,000 in 2000). However,
the costs of sustainable forest protection are estimated to
be 4-5 times greater than current expenditures, and are likely
to grow substantially.
Protected areas. The State budgets for
the various protected areas operated under the Ministry for
Nature Protection are shown in the table below.
Protected Area Expenditure in 2000 (in
AMD)
Lake Sevan National Park 20,840,000
Reserve-park complex (including Sevlich State Reserve) 2,257,200
Dilijan State Reserve 853,200
Khosrov State Reserve 24,122,900
Shikahogh State Reserve 341,200
Department of Protected Areas 5,000,000
TOTAL US$ 326,000
Current State budgets are insufficient
for the needs of biodiversity conservation in Armenia. At
present government budgets are supplemented by funds from
international donors. The biological diversity of Armenia
represents an important economic asset, although the true
values of biological resources are rarely considered in economic
policy and pricing structures. Armenia is clearly on the way
to developing a market economy and, sooner or later, the pricing
of biological resources is likely to be determined by market
forces.
275. The annual volume of financial support
allocated from the State Budget for forest protection activities
and protected areas has not changed as a result of Armenia's
ratification of the CBD.
279 Armenia has received funds from various
international organisations including the World Bank, UN FAO,
GEF, Ramsar Small Grants Fund, SIDA, UNEP and the McArthur
Foundation.
In 1997 Armenia received GEF assistance
amounting to USD $174,800 in order to implement the project
"First National Report, Biodiversity Strategy and Action
Plan to the CBD". In 1999, the combined work of eight
groups of specialists resulted in the "First National
Report on Biodiversity of Armenia" and the "Biodiversity
Strategy and Action Plan" (BSAP), which were prepared
in line with CBD guidelines and the priority development goals
of Armenia (See Article 6).
The World Bank financed the project, "Improvement
of the Lake Sevan Ecological Balance". Within the framework
of this project, an action plan and appropriate recommendations
on the conservation of valuable and endemic fish species in
the Lake were developed. Further financing for the realisation
of the recommended measures was not available or was too late
(see Article 9 question 136).
The ex-situ conservation of micro-organisms
is undertaken by the Republican Centre for Deposition of Micro-organisms.
The activities of the Centre are sponsored by the Russian
institution A-M Holding and by a grant from the INTAS Association
of the European Community (see Article 9 question 136).
There are a number of projects under development on the management
of water ecosystems of the neighbouring countries of Southern
Caucasus, financed by USAID and TACIS (see question 309).
With the financial support of SIDA in
1997-1999 the Forest Research and Experimental Centre implemented
the Forest Resources Assessment Project (see question 361).
288. According to the "Law
on Value Added Tax", benevolent payments for environment
protection are exempted from VAT.
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