republic of armenia the second national environmental action

66 Pages·2008·1.37 MB·English

REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
THE SECOND NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL
ACTION PROGRAMME
YEREVAN-2008
TheSecondNationalEnvironmentalActionProgramwasdevelopedand
publishedwithfinancialandtechnicalassistanceofUNDPArmeniainthe
frameworkof“ConservationandSustainableUseofNaturalResources”pro-
gramfor2006-2008.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Ministry of Nature Protection of the Republic of Armenia and the UNDP CO Armenia
acknowledge gratefully theAustrian Federal Ministry ofAgriculture, Forestry, Environment and
WaterManagementforsupportinorganizationofastudytourin2006togetacquaintedwithAustrian
environmental policy, InWEnt Capacity Building International, Germany andAdelphi Research,
Germanyfororganizationofregionalworkshops onnationalenvironmentalactionprogrammesand
on German sustainable development strategy and policy in 2007, as well as the team of local and
internationalexpertsforpreparationoftheprogramme.
Publicationanddesignconductedby“LusabatsPublishingHouse”
©AuthorsGroup
DearReader,
ItismypleasuretopresenttheSecond
National Environmental Action
Programme of the Republic of
Armenia. The development of the
Second National Environmental
Action Programme (NEAP-2) has
been initiated and launched by the
MinistryofNatureProtectionoftheRepublicofArmeniawithsupportoftheUNDP
Country Office in Armenia. The objective is to develop a new national strategic
environmentalprogrammeforthefive-yearperiodof2008-2012.NEAP-2aimedat
provision of an overall framework for integrated environmental management in the
RepublicofArmeniathatoptimizesutilizationofthecountry’snaturalresourcesand
identificationofoverallenvironmentalconservationpolicy.
The Government of Armenia initiated preparation of NEAP-2 based on
implementation assessment of NEAP-1 (1998) and taking into account the current
economic and social development trends. During the last decade, the country
registered two-digit annual economic growth (10-14%). Such growth creates a
potential for positive socio-economic outcomes. It generates additional financial
resourcesbothatthegovernmentandatthehouseholdlevel.Theseresourcesmayalso
beusedtoaddressthecountry’senvironmentalconcerns.Therateofenvironmental
investment in the total share of environmental spending is continiously increasing.
However,theeconomicgrowthinArmenia,similartoothercountrieswithresource-
intensive economies, is likely to pose an additional burden on the environment,
especially when the country is not using modern resource-saving technologies yet.
Although state budget revenues from environmental and nature use charges tend to
increase with some variations, nowadays revenues from environmental charges in
Armeniatotalmerelyto0.25-0.27%ofGDP.Thevolumesofbudgetaryallocationto
theenvironmentsectoralsotendtostableincrease.
NEAP-2 is a second generation environmental strategic action programme. The
programme covers both environmental media (land, bioresources, water, air,
underground resources, hazardous waste and substances) and cross-media issues
(environmental economics, environmental legislation, institutional issues,
environmental monitoring, environmental compliance and enforcement,
environmental impact assessment, international cooperation, environmental
education,publicawareness,environmentalresearchanddevelopment).Italsorefers
to inter-sectoral issues in the energy, industry, transport, agriculture, and health
sectors. In drafting the action programme the main approaches are: to design
practically applicable programmes, plans and projects to achieve the set in targets
andtotakeintoconsiderationthecountry’sresources,aswellastopayattentionto
issuesthatarenotyetreflectedintheexistingprogrammesandplans.NEAP-2takes
into consideration developments and certain changes in economic, social and
environmentalsectorsofArmeniasince1998.Italsoaimedatfocusingonintegration
of environmental aspects into sectoral policy development plans. NEAP-2 is also
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designed to address certain challenges and to be in compliance with Multilateral
Environmental Agreements ratified by the Republic of Armenia. Eleboration of
NEAP-2demonstratednewapproachesinthedevelopmentofenvironmentalpolicy
formeetingcurrentandforthcomingchallenges.
The Government ofArmenia approved NEAP-2 onAugust 14th, 2008. NEAP-2 is
also directed towards implementation of the Programme of Actions of the
Government of the Republic of Armenia for the period of 2008-2012. The
implementation of NEAP-2 mainly lies on the Government of the Republic of
Armenia, and particularly on the Ministry of Nature Protection to work in close
cooperation with other Ministries and agencies. Concurrently, the support from
international organizations and donor countries is still very important for obtaining
tangible effects from the implementation of the action programme. Consistent and
integral implementation of NEAP-2 is crucially important to guarantee sustainable
environmental management and protection inArmenia. NEAP-2 is to be dynamic
document meaning that its implementation should be properly monitored and
evaluated,and,ifnecessary,theNEAPshouldbeupdated.
ThefundamentalgoalsofNEAP-2aretoguaranteeahealthierandbetterenvironment
inArmenia and to convey to the environment a role of restricting yet stimulating
factorfordevelopment.IexpectthatthenewNEAPshouldgiverenewedimpetusto
mitigationofburdenontheenvironmentandnaturalresourcesinArmenia.Idoalso
believe that implementation of the new strategic environmental action programme
would make a significant input into the process of sustainable development of the
countryasawhole.
AramHarutyunyan
MinisterofNatureProtectionoftheRepublicofArmenia
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EXTRACTfromtheMINUTES
oftheMeetingoftheGovernment
August14,2008,number33
On Approving the Second National Environmental Action
Programme of the Republic of Armenia
1. To approve the Second National EnvironmentalAction Programme of the Republic of
ArmeniaaspertheattachedAnnex.
2.Tourgetheheadsofinstitutionsresponsibleforimplementationoftheactivitiesincluded
in the Second National EnvironmentalAction Programme of the Republic ofArmenia to
provide information on progress regarding the implementation of the Second National
Environmental Action Programme of the Republic of Armenia to the Ministry of Nature
ProtectionoftheRepublicofArmeniabyMarch1ofeachyear.
3. To urge the Minister of Nature Protection of the Republic ofArmenia to provide a brief
informationonprogressregardingtheimplementationoftheSecondNationalEnvironmental
ActionProgrammeoftheRepublicofArmeniatotheGovernmentoftheRepublicofArmenia
byApril1ofeachyear.
PrimeMinisterofthe
RepublicofArmenia TigranSargsyan
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Annex
ProtocolDecisionoftheGovernmentofthe
RepublicofArmenia
number33fromAugust14,2008,
THESECOND
NATIONALENVIRONMENTAL
ACTIONPROGRAMMEOF
THEREPUBLICOFARMENIA
CONTENT
ABBREVIATIONS .....................................................8
1.INTRODUCTION ....................................................10
1.1.Socio-economicconditionsinArmeniaanditsimpactontheenvironment ....10
1.2.Environmentalsafetyandmainthreats .................................10
1.3.EnactedenvironmentalStrategyDocumentsaftertheadoptionofNEAP-1 ....11
2.NATIONALENVIRONMENTALSTRATEGY............................13
2.1.ImplementationstatusofNEAP-1 ....................................13
2.2.NEAP-1andtheconclusionsmadefromtheanalysisofitsimplementation ....13
2.3.TheneedforpreparationofNEAP-2 ..................................14
3.ENVIRONMENTALPOLICYANDLEGALREGULATION................16
3.1.Armenia’senvironmentalpolicyandlegislation..........................16
3.2.Theissuesofenvironmentalpolicyandlegislation .......................16
3.3.Necessarymeasuresaddressedtothesolutionofissuesinenvironmental
policyandlegislation ..................................................16
4.INSTITUTIONALMANAGEMENT ....................................18
4.1.Institutionalstructuresofenvironmentprotectionandtheircapacities ........18
4.2.Institutionalcapacitybuildingforcomprehensiveenvironmental
management .........................................................18
5.ECONOMICANDFINANCIALMECHANISMSOFENVIRONMENT ......19
5.1.Currentstateandproblemsofthesphere ...............................19
5.2.Measuresaddressedtothesolutionofproblems .........................20
6.SUSTAINABLEENVIRONMENTALMANAGEMENT ....................22
6.1.LandResourcesManagement ........................................22
6.2.Managementofbio-diversityandbio-resources,includingforestsector .......23
6.3.WaterResourcesManagement .......................................27
6.4.Hazardoussubstancesandwastemanagement ...........................29
6.5.Managementoftheundergroundresources .............................31
6.6.Atmosphereprotectionandclimatechange .............................34
6.7.Cross-sectoralproblems ............................................36
6.8.Environmentalmonitoring ..........................................36
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7.DEVELOPMENTOFINTERNATIONALCOOPERATIONINTHE
ENVIROMENTALSECTOR .............................................38
7.1.Currentstateofthesector ...........................................38
7.2.Issuesofinternationalcooperation ....................................38
7.3.Measuresaddressedtothesolutionofproblems .........................39
8.PUBLICAWARENESSANDENVIRONMENTALTRAINING,EDUCATION
ANDACCESSTOINFORMATION .......................................41
9.SCIENTIFICRESEACHANDDEVELOPMENT .........................43
10.ACTIONPLAN .....................................................45
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ABBREVIATIONS
BOD BiologicalOxygenDemand
COP ChlororganicPesticides
EIA EnvironmentalImpactAssessment
ENUC EnvironmentalandNatureUseCharges
ESMC EnvironmentalStateMonitoringConcepts
EU EuropeanUnion
EUCCA EasternEurope,Caucasus,CentralAsia
GDP GrossDomesticProduct
GEF GlobalEnvironmentalFacility
GIS GeographicInformationSystem
MDG MillenniumDevelopmentGoals
MEA MultilateralEnvironmentalAgreements
NEHAP NationalEnvironmentalHealthActionProgramme
NATO NorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization
NEAP-1 FirstNationalEnvironmentalActionProgram,1998
NEAP-2 SecondNationalEnvironmentalActionProgramme
NGO Non-governmentalOrganizations
OSCE OrganizationforSecurityandCo-operationinEurope
PCA PartnershipandCooperationAgreement
PCB PolychlorinatedBiphenyl
POP PersistentOrganicPollutant
PRSP PovertyReductionStrategicProgram
RA RepublicofArmenia
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RANAS NationalAcademyofScienceoftheRepublicofArmenian
RECCaucasus RegionalEnvironmentalCentrefortheCaucasus
SNCO StateNonCommercialOrganizations
SPA SpeciallyProtectedAreas
SWC StateWaterCadastre
UN UnitedNations
UNDP UnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme
UNECE UnitedNationsEconomicCommissionforEurope
UNEP UnitedNationsEnvironmentalProgramme
UNFAO FoodandAgricultureOrganizationoftheUnitedNations
UNIDO UnitedNationsIndustrialDevelopmentOrganization
USAID UnitedStatesAgencyforInternationalDevelopment
USSR UnionofSovietSocialisticRepublics
WB WorldBank
WCU WorldConservationUnion
WRMA WaterResourcesManagementAgency
WRMD WatershedRegionalManagementDepartment
WRGM WaterResourcesGlobalManagement
WWF WorldWideFundforNature
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SECONDNATIONALENVIRONMENTALACTIONPROGRAMME
1.INTRODUCTION
1.1.Socio-economicconditionsinArmeniaanditsimpactonthe
environment
Over the recent years, Armenia has made an unprecedented advance in
development.TheGDPgrowthhasdoubledthe1996projectionsoftheWorldBank
andpresentlyexceedsthe1993level. Privateconsumptionandexportationareand
will continue to remain the main driving force of economic growth. There is an
increaseinrealwages,creditingvolumesandconsiderableinfluxofremittance,which
has resulted in increase of investments. The internal savings, however, are not
sufficienttoprovidefundingforinvestments.
Foreign trade opportunities are limited due to unfavorable geographic conditions
(transportation is expensive) and meager natural resources; besides, Armenian
products encounter problems in competing in international markets. Relatively low
levelofintegrationisaweakstimulusforreducingproductioncostsandintroduction
of innovative mechanisms. As it is in other countries with resource-intensive
economies, the economic growth is likely to pose an additional burden on the
environment, especially when the country is not yet using modern resource-saving
technologies.Accordingtointernationalexperts,incountrieslikeArmeniaeconomic
growth causes environmental damage commensurate with 8-10% of the country’s
annualgrossdomesticproduct(GDP).Atpresent,budgetrevenuesfromnatureuse
and environmental charges total only 0.25-0.27% of GDP or in case of calculation
enlargedoption0.5%.Therefore,itmaybestatedthatthisisover20timeslessthan
thedamagecaused.
Owing to the deficiency of institutional, administrative and regulatory mechanisms
thiscountry’snaturalresources,includingnutritional,havenotbeenusedefficiently,
air,waterandsoilarepolluted,wastedisposalproblemsarenotsolved.Thepollution
oftheenvironmentisamongthefactorsaffectingthefutureeconomicstabilityofthe
land-locked Armenia, a country poor in natural resources and blockaded by its
neighbors. The use of nature resources is still regarded as an economic problem,
while public involvement and participation in the identification of environmental
proceduresisstilllimited.
Along with the economic growth of the country, economic growth is also visible in
agriculture.Thus,in2007,comparedwith1999,thegrossagriculturalproductgrew
1.95timesIntheseyears,theaverageannualgrowthamountedto11%.Significant
growthinagriculturealsoraisescertainenvironmentalproblems.
Despitethedramaticprogressintheenergysector,seriousenvironmentalproblems
stillexistinthissector.
Therearesignificantproblemsintheareaofpublicutilities,noprogressisrecorded
intheareaofwaterresourcesusageandconservation–thereareover80%losses,
thecleaningstationsareeithermissingordonotoperate.
However,paralleltothedramaticprogress,duetodisproportionateeconomicgrowth,
theinequalitybetweentheregionsofthiscountycontinuestodeteriorate,andwhich
resultsintheconcentrationofcarsinlargetownswhichcausesseriousenvironmental
problems.
1.2.Environmentalsafetyandmainthreats
Environmental safety is a component of the national safety, characterizing the
state/condition, where the environment, the individual and the society are being
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