At the National Pavilion of Armenia in the Blue Zone of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), a panel discussion titled “Forest Dialogues: Aligning Forest, Climate, and Biodiversity Agendas,” organized by the Armenian Forest Alliance, took place. Sona Kalantaryan, Programs Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC), participated in the event as a speaker. In her remarks, she particularly emphasized that actions related to ecosystem restoration and protected areas must be implemented in harmony to contribute to the long-term conservation of restored territories. According to her, ensuring the sustainability of environmental programs requires taking into account land ownership specifics and the socio-economic challenges of local communities.
During the discussion, speakers also addressed the strengthening of institutional, scientific, and governance frameworks. Andrea Barbara Baumann, Ambassador of Switzerland to Armenia, spoke about the importance of restoring ecosystem functions and providing continuous support to local communities. Marco Pütz of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) highlighted the pivotal role of reliable scientific data and the National Forest Inventory in developing evidence-based policies. In this context, André Gumuchdjian of My Forest Armenia (MFA) stressed the need to strengthen cooperation across different levels of state governance.
Representatives of the Alliance's other partner organizations addressed practical approaches to forest restoration at the field level. Vahe Matsakyan of the Armenia Tree Project (ATP) presented the importance of allocating new land areas for afforestation, while Hayk Minasyan of SHEN NGO underscored the significant role of agroforestry systems and windbreak forest belts in restoring degraded community lands.
The panel discussion was one of the initiatives of the Armenian Forest Alliance within the framework of COP17 and was held with the support of the “Forest Restoration and Climate Change in Armenia” (FORACCA) project. The project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and co-financed by the four member organizations of the Armenian Forest Alliance: SHEN NGO, the Armenia Tree Project (ATP), My Forest Armenia (MFA), and the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC). The initiative is implemented in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).