Bio-diversity

Dprabak rural community situated in the administrative territory of Chambarak district of Gegharkunik region was selected for project implementation. The population of Dprabak are refugees from Shamkhor region of Azerbaijan. Dprabak is the biggest community of the region, it has 270 households, 710 inhabitants, 80 of which are single elderly people, and 35 families are on state social benefits. The education at schools in Dprabak and neighboring communities (Barepat and Dzoravank) is incomplete secondary, the overall number of pupils is 155. Despite the scarcity of land resources, most of community agricultural land is not cultivated. The majority of the population is engaged in animal husbandry and wild collection. The community is surrounded by natural meadows and forests rich in varieties. That is why the population of this region is mainly engaged in wild collection of raspberries, rose-hip, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc. Unfortunately, none of the basic principles and requirements of using natural resources and wild collection is met. As a result, many varieties are damaged and eradicated, thus reducing and isolating the natural surface which hinders regeneration. There are several problems in Dprabak, namely lack of land resources and inefficient use of those available, social conditions of the population and great percentage of unemployed, common to this region and other mountainous communities of Armenia. Shen NGO acts according to the developed strategy which includes a number of poverty criteria when selecting target communities. Considering the region specific problems in Dprabak community, Shen NGO sees the solution of the problem in rehabilitating the degraded land, uniting the population of the community around one common idea and educating them the sustainable use and conservation of biological resources, in particular introduction of innovative/alternative technology of organic agriculture to reduce pressure on surrounding biodiversity. This is proven to be the best practice scenario by Shen and has demonstrated sustainable results in various projects. Besides, land degradation will be also considered during the project implementation, taking into account the fact that in this community only 20% of agricultural land is currently used, the rest (arable land) is used as pastures. Since the community orchard is going to be established on the community arable land, this will be a good example with upscaling potential. The pilot project in Dprabak community of Chambarak will come up with certain solutions to the environmental and social problems typical to the similar districts of the country. The project goal is to introduce sustainable land use and biodiversity conservation practices through establishment of a certified community-based organic orchard of joint use in Dprabak Community of Gegharkunik. This pilot project will generate sustainable income for the community, create additional employment and improve social conditions of the population. As a result of the project implementation, a 4 ha orchard will be established in Dprabak, which will contribute to the improvement of local livelihood. The project beneficiaries are as follows: - 710 inhabitants of Dprabak community. - 50-70 schoolchildren (between 6-10 grades) of Kalavan, Barepat, Dzoravank, Antaramej, and Dprabak communities. - People from neighbouring communities Dzoravank (230 people), Kalavan (65 households), Barepat (37 households), Antaramej (54 households). Please see the project photostory at: http://www.youtube.com/watch v=JLHVwspv100 (English version)

Armenia