How Innovative Nature Conservation Is Making a Big Difference in Armenia

In rural Armenia, an innovative, community-led project called the Eco-Corridors Fund for the Caucasus (ECF) is demonstrating that economic growth, tradition, culture and nature conservation can go hand-in-hand.

Working closely with rural communities in protected areas throughout three ex-Soviet countries, the ECF aims to create ecological corridors that facilitate the growth and survival of native flora and fauna, whilst supporting the people that live there to manage the landscapes for themselves. Carmen Kuntz talks to two of the men playing an integral part in the ECF’s work, discovering just why this conservation project is so unique. 

The original interview with Garnik Gevorgyan was translated by Armen Shahbazyan.

From the dirt road that leads into the village of Artavan, it looks like any other rural Armenian village. Rudimentary stone and brick houses clustered together, fruit trees and makeshift chicken coops pressed between buildings, all encircled by fenced pastures with the wind whipping through the golden grass. Trees and bushes overlap, forming a blanket of green that flows up the steep flank of the mountain ridge stretching along the horizon. Brick-red cliffs part the sea of green and rise up to kiss the bright blue sky, like a blushing giant watching over the village below.

This is Armenia. An ageless land where past and present are woven together. The landscape is rugged, rich with mountains, lowlands, lakes and caves. Ancient churches scatter the countryside, monuments to the world’s first Christian nation. During the three-hour drive from the nation’s capital, Yerevan, to the village Artavan the countless villages and towns have similar characteristics and colours – all awash in a thousand shades of tan, taupe, beige and dusty red of the mountains. But a closer look reveals features that make Artavan different.

The dusty road that winds into the village isn’t bumpy at all, almost smoother than the old asphalt roads of Armenian towns and cities, making the drive into the centre of the village a pleasant cruise where the colours and textures of Armenia can be absorbed. Streetlights are rare in rural Armenian villages, yet a handful of them stand on the dusty street corners like sentries awaiting their night shift. The hay meadows that skirt the village are not unusual at all – a necessity to feed livestock through the cold winters. But the outermost meadows stand out, where lush, deep green grass is dappled with yellow, white and purple wildflowers. This patchwork quilt of cultivated and wild fields is another characteristic that makes Artavan unusual.

Using methodologies borrowed from successful community-based conservation projects in Latin America and elsewhere in the world, the ECF supports biodiversity through contractual nature conservation, where the community takes the lead. What does this look like on the ground in a village like Artavan? First, ECF staff like Armen work in cooperation with WWF experts using remote sensing and field data to identify ecological corridors based on regional conservation priorities, target species and habitats. Then, a methodology called the Financial Participatory Approach (FPA) builds the motivation and organisational capacity of the village to become a partner in the ECF project, mobilises traditional and local knowledge, and develops  trust and partnership with  the community. This participatory process uses financial incentives to prompt the community to come up with their own ideas, projects, initiatives, or business ventures that work toward the goal of the ECF.

‘Within the Eco-Corridors Fund project, there is no separation of the community and the land, says Armen. ‘In order for locals to buy into conservation ideas, they have to own the ideas – they have to generate the ideas.’ It was through the FPA process that Garnik was introduced to the project. And also, how the community was able to improve their roads – and with it, accessibility for visitors.

Walking through the village, Armen and Garnik duck under the blossoms of fruit trees that dangle over the stone walls that line sections of the street. They jump from discussing how the village has changed since working with the ECF, to plans for the future. To create and expand eco-corridors, long-term commitment is needed and this comes in the form of ‘conservation agreements’, the other primary methodology used in the ECF. A conservation agreement is a binding conservation contract that the community creates in collaboration with ECF staff. After establishing clear and attainable conservation objectives over a long term (up to 10 years), funding is then provided to the community through the organization to sustainably manage their land and protect biodiversity.

Like many ex-Soviet countries, nature conservation in Armenia has been characterised by focus on strict nature protection through reserves and national parks. Local habits, traditions and livelihoods were seen as an obstacles to biodiversity conservation and locals were limited in the use of their natural resources. Even where local communities benefit from protected areas, e.g. through tourism, this approach has led to conflicts between protected areas and locals and to apprehension against new protected area proposals.

Garnik was trained by WWF specialists to work as a caretaker and also received training on communicating with locals and visitors. ‘Part of the job we do as caretakers is working with locals, explaining the reasons for conservation – why it’s important and what kind of efforts we should make to protect biodiversity,’ says Garnik. He says working with locals to change perceptions of nature conservation is one of the most challenging parts of his work. Even more challenging, dealing with poachers. This can be delicate work. ‘We implement regular patrolling in the community conservation area which we established together with ECF, and if we see illegal activities we report to the appropriate person, police or inspectorate,’ he says.

Using key species to measure the success of the project is a tangible way to tell if the efforts are working. ‘In my opinion, the most exciting outcome of the ECF project so far is the success in biodiversity conservation,’ says Armen. As a national coordinator, he has access to data from all the ECF caretakers. ‘Since 2018, when we signed the first conservation agreement in Armenia, the number of bezoar goats in ECF supported areas has increased from 195 to 535. Leopards have returned and two are permanently living in the area. And the number of brown bears has increased from 14 to 56.  This is a great success and creates a lot of excitement among the local communities.’

The camp has also served as an attraction for hikers. Garnik guides guests on day trips or multi-day trips, mostly tourists from Germany, France and UK. The campsite has also become an established rest point for the TransCaucasus Trail, a 3,000km long-distance hiking trail which follows the Greater and Lesser Caucasus Mountains connecting roughly two dozen national parks and protected areas in the region. Artavan is part of the Vayots Dzor section of the trail, a 181 km or 8–10 days segment.

For those visiting by car, or looking for day trips in the region, the Noravank Monastery is a frequent stop. Said to have once been a major religious and cultural center of the country, the medieval monastery built in the 12th century is made of massive red blocks, which camouflaged the church into the extraordinary brick-coloured cliffs the flank narrow gorge of the Amaghu River. This gorge is also part of an ECF supported community conservation area, boasting the highest concentration of bezoar goats and leopards in the region.

The nearby Noravank Bird Caves are another point of interest, where a guided tour leads guests through karst caves where placards offer English descriptions of ancient remains of humans and tools that date back to the various stages of the Copper and Stone Ages.

Even with the many success stories of ECF projects in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, there are still many challenges the communities face. With an increase in tourism dollars comes the challenge of ensuring the economic benefits are distributed evenly among the community. Many locals that are not directly involved in the ECF work have come up with entrepreneurial ideas of their own. ‘There is honey for sale and people offer home-made food like cheese, bread, vegetables,’ says Garnik. ‘It is popular with tourists as it is organic, home-made and cultural.’ Ensuring the growth of the community is sustainable, environmentally, socially and economically is important to ECF. They are able to identify communities with the capacity and motivation to protect nature while ensuring the impacts of the project are long-term, and don’t end when the ECF support ends.

Back at the jeep, Garnik and Armen shake hands before Garnik departs to meet with a group he will guide on a bird watching hike. The challenges Garnik faces are less theoretical and more tangible. ‘The biggest challenge as a caretaker, is public education and getting the local population on your side,’ he says. ‘Helping the local population not just to become informed, but to become active conservation partners,’ he says.

Garnik interacts daily with the wildlife, locals and tourists, the three groups that form the foundation of the ECF programme, emphasizing the importance of the role he plays in protecting the biodiversity of his homeland. ‘There is a message that I try to deliver to people through my work, and that is that we are not able to exist without nature, but nature can exist without us, so we need to be careful and take care of nature, not harm it and preserve it for us and for future generations.’