Some of Northern Armenia’s most beautiful landscapes include thousands of hectares of forests and trees that are protected by sustainable management of forests and protected areas.

Norayr Amirkhanyan is one of the seven foresters who guards the “Noyemberyan forestry enterprise”, the branch of HayAntar (ArmForest) in Armenia’s Tavush region. Every day he travels 50 kilometres or more to observe forested lands under his own responsibility, to look after wildlife habitat, and monitor the plans for planting new trees and their healthy growth.

Norayr is 45 and more than 10 years ago, he started off as a forestry technician before becoming a forester. It was through his grandfather – one of the founders of the Noyemberyan forestry, he had learned a love of the forest and everything that resided there. Since then, he has never lost the desire to spend long days studying every class of plant, the trees and the secrets of the woods.

Norayr never stops learning and he now seeks out knowledge from Volodya Gharagyozyan (known as Moso), the senior forester, who is both his teacher and a friend. Together they manage tree nurseries, devise forest thinning and selective cutting plans. Knowledge like this transmitted by word of mouth from one generation to the next is important to maintain the integrity of forest. “We treat the forest like family”, says Norayr. “We take care of trees and the environment so that everyone can enjoy it now and, in the years ahead”.

For some, the very idea of getting paid to spend time in beautiful forests exploring nature may be appealing and something to dream about. The reality is that the life of a forester is nothing but easy and it is only with wholehearted dedication and unconditional love of the forest that one can live through the challenges of this important but difficult work.

It has been two years that Stepan Mesropyan has been spending entire days at Ijevan forestry not even using weekends to catch up on sleep or spend time with family. He is responsible for 1,300 hectares of the Ijevan forestry which has almost become his second home. Stepan starts his day at six in the morning and heads directly to the woods. Driving an old “Willys” he travels a few tens of kilometres of off-road routes leading to neighbouring forested mountains.

Stepan performs observations in the forest lands, assesses fire risk, tries to prevent illegal logging and poaching, and erects fences to preserve the newly plant seedlings. In a nutshell, he protects the forest. The area under his oversight is so large that often it is hard to detect mischievous activities. Nevertheless, due to strict monitoring, illegal logging has reportedly decreased in the last few years.

Recalling the times when thousands of trees were cut down amid severe economic downturn in Armenia, Stepan says, “Back in the 1990s, the forest kept us alive. Now it is up to us to keep the forest alive”.

EU4Climate helps governments in the six EU Eastern Partner countries, including Armenia, to act against climate change. It supports countries in implementing the Paris Climate Agreement and improving climate policies and legislation. Its ambition is to limit climate change impact on citizens’ lives and make them more resilient to it. EU4Climate is funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by UNDP.