Armenia's first agroforest in Shenavan
In 2024, with the financial support of the French "A Tree for You" organization, the two-year project "Agroforestry Restoration of 7 ha of Community Land in Shenavan" was launched. This is the first agroforestry project in Armenia. We will implement it in two stages: the spring phase and the autumn phase.
Spring phase
This year's weather conditions allowed the start of the spring phase at the beginning of April. The works of fencing the area, cultivating the soil, establishing a protective forest layer and planting agroforestry plants are already underway. At this stage, we will plant 7,500 seedlings, 1,500 of which will be poplar, 1,800 will be hazel, and the rest will be such shrubs as barberry, blackberry, rosehip, wild hazel, and yellow acacia.
We have already moved 4,250 seedlings and cuttings to the planting field, where the planting works are also actively going on along with the technical works. It is encouraging that the youth and the leadership of the community are actively involved in all the activities.
Technical works and further maintenance
Within the framework of the project, we have acquired work tools and hand-held gasoline drilling equipment for the community in order to organize the work as efficiently as possible.
Although soil moisture is sufficient for seedlings this time of year, the summer months are sometimes dry. Considering this circumstance, we plan to implement a drip irrigation system on about 2 hectares of agro-plantation in the most risky areas. It will significantly facilitate irrigation works. In the inter-row areas, we will cultivate fodder or leguminous plants according to the wishes of the community residents.
The next stage
We will implement the autumn phase already in November of this year. During that time, we will plant mainly forest tree species, as well as some wild fruit trees and fruit trees. We have planned to plant 15,000 trees and bushes for autumn planting.
