The Second National Environmental Action Programme.

The Second National Environmental Action Programme is a sectoral national programme of the Republic of Armenia applicable to the period 2008-2012. Its main objective is to provide a systematized package of environmental policy instruments to minimize the pressure on the natural environment.Among the measures aiming for environmental protection, the Programme pertains to management of various types of natural resources. Among them, it covers the issue of land resource management. In this area, the document provides for various measures, including (1) the revision of the classification principle of land resources, separating the notions of “land use categories” and “legal regime of land use”, thus improving the registration system of land fund and inputting new zoning system for land use and documentation for area planning; (2) enhancing the supervision over the land use and preservation by implementing national, regional, community project targeting land use and preservation; (3) reduction and prevention of land degradation, aiming at organization of anti-erosion, anti-land-sliding and ameliorative activities, implementation of measures for restoration (re-cultivation) of degraded lands, definition of principles for privatized agricultural land consolidation; (4) creation of Geographic Information Systems based on modern technologies with the application of environmental monitoring criteria; and (5) allocating lands located outside the administrative boundaries of the communities, transfer of powers to the communities to ensure the prevention of land degradation and biodiversity conservation.With regard to the ecosystem management, the Programme aims to (1) introduce biodiversity accounting, inventory and monitoring systems; (2) set quotes for bio-diversity use, assessment of human-induced and nature caused impact on the use of natural resources; (3) optimization of the Specially Protected Areas (SPA) system in line with modern approaches and principles; (4) in view of the long-pending idea of the communities on establishing community forests, to envisage reforestation of no less than 3,000 ha community territories by mean of attracting various financial sources and innovative financial mechanisms, which will at the same time specify active measures to fight fires and pests; (5) carry out an appropriate research to clarify the time-frame for implementing the measures as stipulated under the National Forest Programme of Armenia before 2012; (6) develop and implement pilot project on availability of genetic resources in the community and fair distribution of the benefits obtained from its use aiming to create prerequisites for conservation of Armenian genetic variety and balanced use of genetic resources.Finally, the Programme treats the issue of water management. In this area, it notes that one of the most important prerequisites of appropriate management of water resources is the assessment and classification of water reserves and resources of the Republic, which will in turn allow making decisions related to the expansion of the strategic water reserves and regulation of river flow. Among other important directions is the development of global water resource management, which will require elaboration of projects for surface and underground water resources monitoring based on the river basin approach. Another direction relates to definition and conservation of water ecosystems reservation zones (of sanitary conservation, flow formation, underwater conservation, water protection zones, ecotone, etc.), as well as the development of methodology for determining the volumes of ecological outlets on the basis of hydro-geographical characteristics.The state policy for environmental protection and reasonable use of natural resources is developed and implemented by the Ministry of Nature Protection of the Republic of Armenia. The functions assigned to the Ministry of Nature Protection are implemented by the structural and detached units of the ministry personnel and state non-profit organizations and companies established within the ministry system.