Community Tree Planting and Rural Reforestation

At urban community sites, in villages, and in rural locations, ATP has made enormous strides in combating desertification by planting and restoring more than 750,000 trees, and hundreds of jobs have been created for Armenians in seasonal tree regeneration programs. Growing and planting an increasingly larger number of trees each year is the cornerstone of our reforestation efforts.

ATP’s tree planting strategy has three components. First, producing trees on an increasingly larger scale each year at our state-of-the-art nurseries in Karin and Khachpar, at our new Mirak Reforestation Nursery in Margahovit, and in backyard reforestation nurseries in the rural Getik River Valley.

Second, planting these trees in partnership with residents of urban and rural communities at public sites, rural backyards, and areas targeted for mountainous reforestation. And finally, training and employing workers to coppice the stumps of trees that were cut down in public areas. (Coppicing is a forestry technique whereby the unproductive shoots that sprout from tree stumps are trimmed back, leaving the strongest shoot to grow into a new tree).

Our targets include:

• Expansion of rural reforestation program to include 330 families who will grow up to 300,000 trees in backyard nurseries which will be ready for planting in 2006
  
• Planting 750,000 trees currently growing in ATP’s Vanadzor nursery
  
• Propagating up to one million trees in ATP’s new Mirak Family Reforestation Nursery in Margahovit village
  
• Propagating up to 50,000 fruit and decorative trees at our Karin and Khachpar nurseries for planting at public sites in urban and rural communities throughout Armenia