The winter has lasted longer than forecast with a last snowfall on March 28th. We had to wait until the snow melted and we started planting in earnest on April 9th. It is a bit of a problem as in our temperate regions, trees grow most rapidly in April, May and June. In July it starts to taper off and by September they have mostly stopped growing. It is important to plant as early as possible so that roots have time to grow deep into the ground to find humidity to support them through the hot summer months.
We planted all of the 70.000 plants that were ready in our nurseries and finished on April 26th. We planted 33.000 saplings in Shirakamut
and started planting in our new area: Jrashen with 31.000 saplings. 45 workers were employed to finish as quickly as possible.
We also planted a small area of 6 ha in Vahagni, altitude of 1000 m. The mayor of the village was keen on us doing a reforestation project in his village. It was interesting for us as well as we planted some forest tree species such as walnut trees that do not do well in high altitude lands.
Growing 800,000 Seedlings in the Nurseries
We have sowed many seeds in our two nurseries in November and we have just finished sowing pine seeds in our Benjamin Gumuchdjian nursery. Our second year pine seedlings are growing fast now.
All in all we should have 800.000 seedlings growing in the next couple of months. Already, most forest tree species have germinated, four types of maple trees, Caucasian pear, wild apple, walnuts and tillia. The next species that will come out of the ground will be the hornbeam, ash and oak.
Installation of the Water Pump in Debet Nursery
We finally finished the installation of our zero-energy Papapump. The pump uses the pressure of the water of a river to propel the water
upwards. This was interesting for us as the river is in a gorge flowing 70 meter below so it was not necessary to bring electricity. This is obviously a beautiful carbon-free solution.
We installed a supply head 6 meter above the pump to have the right pressure. A pipe 200 meters long runs along the river in order to bring water to the supply head.
Finally we installed a 10 ton water tank at the highest point of our nursery. The pump delivers about 240 liters per hour, 24/7. It will thus fill the 10.000 litres water tank in less than two days.
This is amply sufficient as our water use should be around 4000 litres per day when it is not rainy. We are really happy that this issue is solved as we had lost 70% of our pine seedlings due to lack of water last year.
Deputy Minister of Environment at My Forest Armenia
On April 16th the deputy minister of Environment, Anna Mazmanyan, came to visit the Benjamin Gumuchdjian nursery and the planting site in Shirakamut. She was very enthusiastic both about the work as well as the quality of our work. Our nursery manager explained how to cut and plant branches of shrubs to multiply them. We have multiplied by five the area in our nursery dedicated to the growing of shrubs. This should give us 60.000 of 8 different shrub species.
We are now preparing our next stage: planting 400.000 trees per year. With the participation of each one, we can achieve this goal. Creating a forest is a very long term endeavor. By becoming a monthly donor, you support reforestation over the long term. By engaging in reforestation you are actively improving the environment and creating a legacy for centuries to come.