U.S. Embassy Chargé d'Affaires Anthony Godfrey will mark Earth Day and Arbor Day in a ceremonial tree planting initiated by the Armenia Tree Project Charitable Foundation (ATP). U.S. Embassy Chargé d'Affaires Anthony Godfrey and honored guests will plant evergreens on a specially prepared plot at ATP's nursery in Karin village (Aragatsotn region of Armenia).
With the participation of the U.S. Embassy, high ranking government officials, and representatives of a number of international and local organizations, this event will not only mark worldwide environmental celebrations, but will also raise the broader public awareness of the ecological issues existing in Armenia at present. The date of the ceremony (April 25) has been chosen to coincide with the traditional Earth Day and Arbor Day festivities, marked globally on April 22 and April 27 of 2007 respectively.
This is the sixth year that Armenia Tree Project is celebrating the Earth Day and Arbor Day with the U.S. Embassy at one of the rural refugee villages where ATP has been developing programs over the last 13 years. As in 2006, this year the celebration will be hosted at ATP's tree nursery in the village of Karin outside of Ashtarak.
More than seventy guests have been invited to partake and rejoice in this celebration with ATP. Among anticipated attendees are the RA Ministers of Nature Protection, Agriculture, Education and Science, as well as representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Armenia, including directors of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), and Peace Corps.
In the beginning of the event ATP Executive Director Jeff Masarjian will make opening remarks, after which the U.S. Embassy Chargé d'Affaires Anthony Godfrey will greet the participants. RA Minister of Nature Protection Vardan Ayvazyan and RA Minister of Agriculture David Lokyan are also expected to present speeches.
A reception, immediately following the Earth Day and Arbor Day celebrations, will be held in ATP's "Michael and Virginia Ohanian Environmental Education Center"Â. Refreshments are provided by the U.S. Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development (CARD).
In 1996 ATP started its state-of-the-art Nursery project with the vision of producing high quality indigenous trees for ATP's re-greening mission. Seedlings from the both Karin and Khachpar nurseries are taken to community sites in Yerevan and throughout Armenia, where ATP carries out its seasonal large-scale tree-plantings for communities. ATP manages three nurseries, including one established for reforestation needs in the village of Margahovit, close to Vanadzor (Lori), which we hope will produce up to 1.5 million trees each year. The nurseries are also the major source of employment for the local population.
The "Michael and Virginia Ohanian Environmental Education Center"Â of Karin nursery was established in 2004 to provide practical training for students. There, and in classrooms throughout Armenia, ATP provides environmental education to foster a new generation of environmental stewards in Armenia's schools, colleges and universities. The Ohanian Center is located next to the nursery fields, which serve as laboratory space, where students learn techniques of tree care and grafting taught by ATP specialists. -Source: U.S. Embassy to Armenia
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