interview with Yerevan municipality official about the ongoing campaign to replace the Stalin-era “dying” trees

##interview with Yerevan municipality official about the ongoing campaign to replace the Stalin-era “dying” trees

Context in [Monday news](https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/1bzag2g/4th_bomb_eu_wants_to_assist_armenia_without/). The city is replacing the dead, dying, or infected teghi and bardi trees.

**REPORTER:** Explain the process.

**BEGOYAN (green department):** For many years, the city was engaged in a superficial process to increase the number of trees in the capital. They said that 50,000-100,000 small saplings were planted each year.

**REPORTER:** Where…

**BEGOYAN:** I was unable to find them. Maybe they were planted but left unwatered and neglected so they dried. This is why we created a department tasked with investigating Yerevan’s issues. The department includes dendrologists and scientists. In the past, the decisions were made at a district level, which is why every district had a different look; some of them decided to plant palms. We brought it all under one roof and involved scientists.

The department identified a problem with the թեղի trees, which were planted in the 1940s-50s. Their lifespan under Yerevan’s conditions is approximately 50 years. They have reached the end of life, just like everything in nature.

When Yerevan was being built in the Stalin era, they imported expensive trees like sosi and kaghni, and planted them in central areas. Additionally, perhaps due to a lack of financial resources, they brought cheap teghi trees from Dilijan as a temporary 30-year solution; they planted the teghi, acacia, and bardi for this purpose. These are the cheapest trees in terms of functionality, but not necessarily price-wise. They were always meant to be replaced.

Acacia trees were eventually replaced during the USSR because these trees didn’t “feel well” under Yerevan’s conditions. Similarly, they were supposed to replace teghi and bardi starting 1990s. Once again, they were only planted in Yerevan as a temporary quick solution.

In case you’re having difficulty picturing which trees we’re talking about, it’s those tiny-leaved trees. The leaves lose their functionality just 20 days after turning green, followed by a takeover by termites and the gooey residue you might have noticed. These trees have lost their vitality; no one argues against this.

We don’t want to follow the old practice of pretending to work. Teghi trees must be replaced for the following reasons: (1) Lost vitality, (2) they feed and house harmful termites, and (3) they collapse easily from light wind due to rotting roots and base. There were hundreds of collapses in 2023 alone that caused property damage to residents. Thankfully no one was killed.

Around 40% of trees in Yerevan have either lost their vitality or will soon lose it. This administration has the courage to launch the “scandalous” replacement process, something that should have begun in the early 2000s. If we don’t do this today, Yerevan will turn into a desert.

**REPORTER:** Hayk Marutyan’s party says many of these trees are healthy.

**BEGOYAN:** Trees have a limited city lifespan. We adopt our decisions based on scientific advisory.

**REPORTER:** But are they all rotten?

**BEGOYAN:** 99% of the trees in question were planted in the 1940s and 50s. They are all either rotten or extremely infected by diseases. They all have a bunch of major problems. Even one major problem would normally be enough to replace the tree. For example, they have bacterial flows, abnormal growths, and nematode [worm] infections.

The dying and infected trees develop a giant cavity/hole inside the tree from top to bottom. You can see them when we cut the trees. Sometimes the hole doesn’t begin from all the way at the ground level and it’s slightly higher. Hayk Marutyan’s faction members recently visited the cutting sites and cherrypicked trees where the hole began at a slightly higher level. They took their photos and manipulated the facts by claiming the trees were healthy with a solid core.

It’s not just the size of the hole that matters. If you’ve seen the photos, there are dark formations caused by age.

There are no trees on Tumanyan St. that are ecologically worth keeping, but we decided to preserve a few of them, for now, just to have areas with shade. This caused a protest by residents of nearby apartments who felt “singled out”; they wanted the trees gone near their windows, too. They called the police on us and demanded that we cut those trees. The residents of Tumanyan St. are tired of these old trees. They can’t open their windows because of bugs and termites. They won’t even park their cars under these trees because of the dripping goo.

**REPORTER:** Opponents say you shouldn’t plant sakura (cherry blossom) and Judas trees as replacements because their leaf coverage (foliage) is sparse and they aren’t meant for Yerevan’s climate. How did you decide to plant those trees?

**BEGOYAN:** We involved a scientific council represented by several distinguished experts [lists the names]. These scientists decided the priority locations and the types of trees that should be planted on each street.

**REPORTER:** Opponents say sakuras won’t block the dust.

**BEGOYAN:** Should I trust the opinion of an opposition politician who is a lawyer or a pedagogue by profession, or a group of scientists and dendrologists? Opponents always target the beautiful sakuras but they won’t mention that they were planted in a carefully chosen location – near the Tamanyan statue. Why were they planted there? Because the sidewalks are very narrow here. We understand that sakuras don’t provide large coverage, but there are urban-construction norms and we cannot plant anything bigger in narrow areas. This is a scientific-urban-architectural topic. We are also not allowed to plant a large tree and block the residents’ windows. We are legally required to plant a large tree 5 meters away from a condo. We had a choice: keep the area empty or plant a smaller tree.

This tree is also great for the tourist flow. Larger trees would have also blocked the view of the statue and other architecture while looking from the Opera direction. So yes, we intentionally chose a tree with small coverage for this area.

**REPORTER:** What about the other types of trees?

**BEGOYAN:** The others were chosen based on their high functionality level. Notice that in front of the government building’s beautiful architecture, we have spherical acacia trees that have a low functionality level but they were planted anyway because other types of trees could block the view of the architecture.

Large trees are being planted where it’s appropriate. For example, on Bagratunyats we planted saphoras that will have a giant coverage. They can reach up to 20 meters.

On Tumanyan, where the sidewalk is average-sized, we have planted a medium-coverage Judas tree (cercis). They look beautiful during the blossom.

Opponents claim sakuras shouldn’t be planted because it’s for the Japanese climate. Sakuras are planted around the world. Almost 700,000 tourists visit Washington to witness the blossoming. There is a global map showing the cities with sakuras, when they blossom, and a large flow of tourists that follow the “sakura map” to visit the countries to see the blossom.

On Sayat-Nova we planted sosi trees. They will grow huge. On Khanjayan we will have giant albicia/kashtan that you can find in Paris.

Melik Adamyan, behind the government building, is in dire condition. It’s shameful. We will plant spherical catalpas that don’t reach high; we don’t want them to block the view of the building.

On one hand, we have a scientific council making decisions, and on the other hand, politicians who manipulate the topic. I have yet to hear an opposing fact by any reputable scientist against the replacement of teghi or the selection of new trees.

**REPORTER:** Are all of these trees for Yerevan’s climate?

**BEGOYAN:** All of them. Every type of tree we have acquired was already planted in Yerevan decades ago and was proven to be suitable.

**REPORTER:** So, in areas where a dense and tall tree is appropriate, you will plant them to increase the foliage?

**BEGOYAN:** Absolutely. Moreover, in areas where we currently have medium foliage, we are investigating the possibility of planting denser ones.

**REPORTER:** Critics say the new trees will become effective 30 years after planting them, and in the meantime, Yerevan will be stripped and left vulnerable.

**BEGOYAN:** This is the first time that the city has purchased these types of “adult” trees. They are 10 years or older. They come with foliage.

**REPORTER:** They already have leaves?

**BEGOYAN:** Yes. You will see the leaves immediately after they are planted. In the first year or so they might not grow due to stress, but they will gradually grow bigger and bigger. Compare this to teghi trees that were losing foliage every year. Yerevan administration has never planted trees with such high functionality and appropriate sizes.

**REPORTER:** How many did you buy?

**BEGOYAN:** We have imported up to 3,000 high-value high-functionality trees. Half of them are being used to replace teghi, and the other half for supplementing or creating parks.

**REPORTER:** Your former colleagues, Hayk Marutyan and Viktor Mnatsakanyan, are against this plan. Why?

**BEGOYAN:** It’s unserious. An attorney by profession suddenly becomes an expert in urban planning, then a transport expert, then a construction expert. They suggested authorizing the construction of mansards (additional floor) on condo roofs in Kentron so they could use the money generated from permits to subsidize the transport fare. Today they are professional botanists. I’m confident they will have a new career in the future. It’s unserious. How can someone, who claims to care about nature, also run a restaurant complex in a river gorge that disturbs the entire ecosystem? Are they throwing mud at us because they realize our department is serious about nature protection and we might eventually “reach” their restaurant complex? Am I allowed to think that? Here is [the photo](https://youtu.be/G-AoZUR8e_I?t=1464) of saplings planted by Hayk Marutyan in Yerevan.

**REPORTER:** I do remember how they were planted. They disappeared.

**BEGOYAN:** Of course they disappeared. They dried and died. And here are [the sosi trees](https://youtu.be/G-AoZUR8e_I?t=1480) planted by [another critic] on Mashtots Avenue. We have obviously removed them. No self-respecting city or a person claiming to be an expert will allow this to be planted on a central avenue. Wasn’t it Hayk Marutyan who authorized the construction of a building in place of Fizgorodok’s green areas despite protests? Marutyan allowed the construction of those cafes in front of Malibu Park; there were trees in those areas. A political competition should still follow moral principles. //

[source,](https://youtu.be/G-AoZUR8e_I)

##two bardi trees collapsed near the Khorenatsi-Kristapor intersection: PHOTO

One of them fell on a car and another one knocked down nearby metal poles.

[photo,](https://factor.am/760983.html)
[photo,](https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/284459)

my source: https://old.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/1c06c21/yerevans_tree_replacement_project_sakuras_teghi/

https://old.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/1c0bwqk/interview_with_yerevan_municipality_official/

Posted by armeniapedia