Armenia's Next Environmental Crisis?
Armenia is under a threat of turning into a desert in the next 50 years.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Armenia Thursday evening on a two-day visit. His agenda: the Russian military base, ongoing discussion on the “frozen” Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and a visit to the genocide memorial. But one thing that was not made a priority was the environmental crisis currently gripping Armenia.
The tiny mountainous nation may soon become a desert, environmentalists say.
Human logging in Armenia wipes out an estimated 750,000 cubic meters of forest coverage each year. Today only 8 percent of the country is forested. That’s down from a peak of more than 40 percent, according to the World Bank.
At the current rate of deforestation, environmentalists say desertification will take place in the next 50 years.
To make matters worse, the changing global climate is threatening the last fragments of the country’s forests. READ MORE AT RIANOVOSTI
