Event on Pastures and Hay Meadows Mapping Results, Importance, Next Steps

On June 29, in the Agritek auditorium of the Armenian National Agrarian University (ANAU), an event on handover of pasture and hay meadow mapping materials to the RA ministry of Economy and ANAU was held. The materials were developed in the framework of “Management of natural resources and safeguarding of ecosystem services for sustainable rural development in the South Caucasus” (ECOserve) programme implemented by GIZ commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in close cooperation with the German Aerospace Agency (DLR) and the ICARE foundation.  The maps of grasslands have been created by using in-situ data from the field and remote sensing technology.

The informative map layers will contribute to the formulation of effective strategies and decisions aimed to ensure sustainable management of natural fodder areas of Armenia.

During the event the results, the importance and further steps of pastures and hay meadows mapping, systematic data collection, transfer, and application in the context of sustainable pasture management were presented.

The RA Ministry of Economy presented the experimental mapping of the pastures and grasslands of the pilot settlement based on the knowledge acquired as a result of the trainings held within the framework of the program.

In his welcoming speech, the Minister of Economy of RA Mr. Vahan Kerobyan, emphasized the economic and environmental significance of pastures as well as highlighted the importance of using accurate data for achieving tangible results in sustainable pasture management in communities.

In his speech, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Armenia H.E. Victor Richter praised the long-term sustainable cooperation of GIZ and local partners and highlighted the importance of sustainable pasture management as a factor for economic development and food security.

GIZ Armenia Country Director Mrs. Madeleine Rauschenberger welcomed the partners and thanked the   effective work, expressing hope that the map layers, provided to the local partners, will contribute to sustainable biodiversity management from an economic and environmental perspective.

Head of Local Self-Government Policy Department at Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of RA Mr. A. Giloyan emphasized the long-term sustainable cooperation of GIZ and local partners, particularly in the field of ecology and community development.

ANAU Deputy Rector H. Zakoyan, while speaking about the importance of applying the GIS / GIS model of pasture mapping, stressed the need to introduce information technologies in the educational sphere.

By the end of the event the participants discussed further possible intersectoral cooperation for ensuring sustainable pasture management in Armenia.