YEREVAN, Armenia, July 11, 2007 (ENS) - Virgin forests surrounding the
village of Teghut in northern Armenia are being destroyed to make way for a
giant copper mine, warn Armenian and American conservationists who are appealing
to the Armenian government to stop the mine.

But many Teghut villagers do not oppose the mine because nearly half of local
residents are unemployed and have no means to feed their families. They appear
unconcerned about ecologists' warning that Teghut will become a dead zone in 25
years and the rare and endangered birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, and unique
fruit trees of the Teghut forest will disappear.

In June 2006, the mining enterprise Armenian Copper Program created a new
company, Teghut, to exploit the copper-molybdenum deposits in the Teghut forest,
taking advantage of a continuing increase in copper prices. The company plans to
clearcut at least 1,500 acres to make way for the open pit strip mining
operation.

Exploration work has begun and many trees have already been cut down. Roads for
trucks have been paved through the forest and digging equipment has been brought
in.

The Armenian Copper Program plans to put a mine tailings dump in the nearby
gorge of the Kharatanots River, where conservationists warn that heavy metals
and other toxic mine waste will leach into the soil and groundwater, polluting
the area's drinking water.

In order to set up the tailing structure, the company plans to change the course
of the Kharatanots River. Environmentalists worry that the new course will only
be maintained for 25 years - the life of the mine - after which there is no
guarantee that the company will continue to remediate the artificial flow.

The Teghut forest is inhabited by animals and plants registered in Armenia's Red
Book of Endangered Species, including the rock eagle, snake eagle, and gray bear
and Trautvetter's maple, and Caucasian persimmon. Their habitat will be
destroyed by the mine.

On June 20, the nonprofit Armenia Tree Project issued an action alert by email
to thousands of its supporters and colleagues, urging them to write Armenian
President Robert Kocharian asking him to protect this treasured forest.

"Rather than destroy the Teghut Forest, we propose that it be made into a Nature
Reserve as part of a concerted effort to develop sustainable tourism in the
valley," Armenia Tree Project Executive Director Jeff Masarjian wrote in his
appeal to the President. "Tourism is a sustainable form of economic development
that benefits the local population without causing permanent damage to the
environment."

"Teghut could attract people from around the world who want to see the rich
landscape, biodiversity, and cultural heritage that is unique to this area,"
writes Masarjian.

To date, President Kocharian has not responded to the appeal.

The Armenia Tree Project is a member of SOS Teghut, a consortium of 26
organizations that supports the need for sustainable economic development in the
country, but opposes development that will leave the land permanently degraded
and poisoned.

In September 2005, the coalition sent a letter to Valery Mejlumyan, the
president of Armenian Copper, voicing their concern over the possible
destruction of the Teghut forest and inviting him to meet with them. Mejlumyan
did not reply.

The company's plans for eight years of mining at Teghut have been approved by
the Armenian Ministry of Nature Protection, although the life of the mine is
estimated at 25 years.

These NGOs say the government's decision to permit the Teghut mine is illegal.


Greens Union President Hakob Sanasaryan says the project activities have been
intentionally presented only in part, which is unprecedented and illegal.

By presenting the project bit by bit the company is seeking to cover up the real
amount of damage to the environment, said Sanasaryan.

"If the company gains permission for the first stage of mining and work begins,"
he said, "then the process will become unstoppable."

President of the Socio-Ecological Association Srbuhi Harutyunyan says 77
articles in various laws are being violated, including 14 articles of the law on
environmental impact assessment.

Company Executive Director Gagik Arzumanyan told reporters in February that
incomplete information on environmental damage has been presented because there
are consequences that cannot be predicted at this point.

"Yes, the project does not have all the information for the period of 25 years.
In the project, we have tried to show those indicators which are predictable for
a period of eight years of mining," Arzumanyan said.

Arzumanyan called the conservationists' allegations of illegallity "negligible"
and attempted to shift attention away from the company's logging of the Teghut
forest by pointing out the damage done across the country by other loggers
acting illegally.

Minister for Nature Protection Vardan Ayvazyan supported the company's position.
"Only 60 thousand cubic meters of wood will be cleared. According to a study by
the World Bank, illegal logging in Armenia comes to an annual volume of 600-700
thousand cubic meters of wood. These are more serious numbers," Ayvazyan told
reporters.

Environmentalists say such comparisons are absurd. The Teghut mine will destroy
rivers, soil, air, and animals as well as trees, they point out.

"As an expert, I say with conviction that cutting down even a few trees on
slopes such as these would lead to soil erosion," said Harutyunyan.

"After the mining is done, we would have a pit in northern Armenia around
400-500 meters deep, and the territory would be considered one of increasing
degradation," he said. "What does this have to do with illegal logging?"

Masarjian says the Armenian Copper Program is already polluting northern Armenia
with its Alaverdi copper mine and smelter, which processes copper ore for a
consortium of mining companies in the Lori region.

"The Alaverdi smelter, notorious for belching tens of thousands of tons of
sulfur oxides annually into the atmosphere, is having disastrous effects on the
health and well-being of the local population," said Masarjian. "The smelter has
no emission controls, and the company claims to be unable to afford the cost of
installing them."

Since the smelter re-opened in the late 1990s, the town of Alaverdi has reported
an increase in cases of respiratory disease, sterility, and birth defects.

But Teghut community leader Harutyun Meliksetian says the villagers must make a
living. If they cannot find work, he said, "Teghut will become an uninhabited
area sooner or later."

The company has assured the villagers of Teghut, four kilometers from the mine
site, and of Singh, six kilometers away, that they would not have to be
relocated.

But Sanasaryan of the Greens Union says residents will be forced to leave by the
environmental disaster that the mine will create.

"Twenty-five years later the place would be a desert," he said. "The tailings
and wastes, containing heavy metals, would penetrate the soil, water and air,
causing disease, ruining the produce and sharply reducing soil fertility.
Naturally, the people there would then be forced to leave."