Fordham University, NYC - The AESA NY-NJ Section hosted a lecture on Armenian Environmental Issues presented by Serda Ozbenian, the Executive Director of the Armenian Environmental Network, and Karine Vann, Director of Special Projects of the Armenian Environmental Network and a founder of “Toprak Petq Chi” initiative.
Serda Ozbenian talked about overall environmental issues in Armenia and she focused on the aftermath of the problems how can they effect public health, national security, and economic development of Armenia. She talked about the critical situation of national reserves, mining industry, wildlife and environmental leadership, focusing on Shikahogh Reserve, which is in South Armenia, Teghut and Amulsar mines and wild bears and wolves. She talked about Armenian Environmental network’s role in Armenia in solving Armenia’s environmental problems: their role is significant. She mentioned that they have also done environmental education throughout Armenia in order to raise environmental awareness.
Karine, talked about her project “Toprak Petq Chi”, which is a movement against using plastic bags in Armenia and she promotes usage of fabric grocery bags. She talked about the plastic waste and its influence on the world, people and our life. She shared with the details with AESA how they started the initiative and how they promote this project in Armenia in different places town and villages. They simply offer fabric bags instead of using plastic bags, and people can even design their own bags.
Both eco talks were focused on how to make Armenia environmentally friendly and decrease the environmental problems.