Cbd third National Report Armenia (English version)

C. ARTICLES OF THE CONVENTION

Article 5 – Cooperation

◊ Is your country actively cooperating with other Parties in respect of areas beyond national jurisdiction for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity?
No
Yes, bilateral cooperation (please give details below)	X
Yes, multilateral cooperation (please give details below)	X
Yes, regional and/or subregional cooperation (please give details below)	X
Yes, other forms of cooperation (please give details below)
Further comments on cooperation with other Parties in respect of areas beyond national jurisdiction for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
Armenia puts a special importance to the compliance of environmental legislation with international criteria and improvement of the mechanisms for the implementation of the international conventions. The last years are characterized by the expansion of international environmental cooperation, which has been contributed by the Armenia’s involvement into the initiatives of international organizations and donor countries, as well as the experience of the country; expansion of the partners’ network, more specific regulation of the activities and increase of efficiency of the cooperation with NGOs. At present the issues of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use are in the focus of many multilateral and bilateral projects and initiatives. With the purpose to get technical support they continue to cooperate with UNDP, UNEP, UNECE, World Bank, GEF, OSCE, WWF, CEPF and other international financial organizations and donor countries. In recent years the list of international environmental conventions/treaties ratified by Armenia has been replenished by Cartagena protocol of UN “Convention on Biological Diversity” aimed at the conservation of biodiversity and its sustainable use, which Armenia ratified in 2004. With the purpose to implement the main provision of the conventions in 2002-2005 in Armenia with the funding of GEF they implemented the following projects: - “Needs assessment for the primary capacities for biodiversity and establishment of information-regulatory mechanism (IRM) structure”; - “Development of Armenian national biosafety framework”. One should also mentioned GEF “In-situ Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives through Strengthening of Information Management and Use of Modern Technologies” project’s PDF B phase, which is being implemented in 5 countries – Armenia, Bolivia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan. The goal of the project is to collect information about Armenia’s genetic resources; improvement of their in-situ conservation and establishment of informational database. Armenia is a party of Pan-European Strategy on Biological and Landscape Diversity and participants to the processes held within that strategy. At present Armenia is a party to 15 environmental conventions and 3 protocols. Since 1999 the issues of environmental cooperation are discussed within Armenia-Germany intergovernmental commission. They put a special importance to Caucasus initiative of German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), within framework of which they have developed and soon will launch “Establishment of protected area in Javakhk region” regional project aimed at the conservation of nature and biodiversity in the Caucasus region. In the domain of sustainable management of bioresources Armenia cooperates with Sweden since 1998. Within “Management of state forests” component of “Natural resources management and poverty reduction” project with the support of Swedish International Development Agency they have developed “Forest Policy and Strategy”, Forest Code and “National Forest Program of the Republic of Armenia” and study of illegal logging. According to Swedish International Development Agency 2006-2009 strategy additional support is envisaged for the development of Armenian forests’ sector.

Is your country working with other Parties to develop regional, subregional or bioregional mechanisms and networks to support implementation of the Convention? (decision VI/27 A)
No
No, but consultations are under way
Yes, some mechanisms and networks have been established (please provide details below)	X
Yes, existing mechanisms have been strengthened (please provide details below)
Further comments on development of regional, subregional or bioregional mechanisms and networks to support implementation of the Convention.
The development of regional and sub-regional cooperation is one of the most important directions of Armenia’s international cooperation and in this case a special attention is drawn to bio-diversity conservation and sustainable use. In 2003-2005 Armenia has participated to the preparatory process of environmental conferences and development of the major policy documents, including “Environment of Europe” and “Environment and Health” process, the policy program documents developed within framework of which are guidelines for the countries’ further activities. In 2004 together with other Caucasus republics Armenia has been included into EU “European Neighborhood Policy” (ENP). Based on the interests of the country and priority issues Armenia has submitted its recommendations to be included into Armenia-EU Action Plan developed within “European Neighborhood Policy”, where they are going to reinforce the direction of Armenian environmental cooperation with European countries. 2005 is the first year of UN declared decade of “Education for Sustainable Development”. Armenia has participated to the development of UN ECE initiated sustainable education strategy process. In the region of South Caucasus the environmental cooperation, especially in the domain of biodiversity, proceeds with certain obstacles, the reasons of which are economic, as well as political issues. Perceiving that environmental conservations issues that outside of political issues can have a positive impact on the expansion of practical connections, Armenia is consistently leading a policy of sustainable development of relations with all the countries of the region. In coordination of environmental cooperation of Caucasus countries the role of REC-Caucasus is great. On the regional level the cooperation is mainly performed within the framework of internationally funded international and regional environmental projects, especially supported by WWW. In 2005 in Yerevan a memorandum of understanding was signed between Ministry of Nature Protection and WWF – about cooperation in the domain of Nature Protection, which will contribute to the fostering of nature and biodiversity conservation, especially in regard of common issues of bilateral interest and their solution. Negotiations are held about establishing a trust fund with a purpose to protect the specially protected area of the Caucasus region. Armenia is included into UNDP, UNEP and OSCE “Environment and Security” regional initiative’s “Risk transformation cooperation” project implementation. Within the initiative they expect development of legal document aimed at the conservation of Caucasus mountainous ecosystems (“Caucasus Convention”). Armenia has also participated to the following activities: Development of “Caucasus Environmental Outlook-2002” Development of “Conservation of biodiversity of the Caucasus Ecoregion” – with the support of WWF, which in March 2006 has been approved at the summit of the ministers of Caucasus countries.

Is your country taking steps to harmonize national policies and programmes, with a view to optimizing policy coherence, synergies and efficiency in the implementation of various multilateral environment agreements (MEAs) and relevant regional initiatives at the national level? (decision VI/20)
No
No, but steps are under consideration
Yes, some steps are being taken (please specify below)	X
Yes, comprehensive steps are being taken (please specify below)
Further comments on the harmonization of policies and programmes at the national level.
The biodiversity component is fully reflected in the Armenian national reports prepared within the framework of FCCC and CCD, as well as projects implemented within Ramsar convention. With the purpose to fulfill the commitments undertaken by countries within the conventions they develop relevant mechanisms, including the development of legal acts, action plants and approaches to their implementation control. In 2004-2005 the Government approved Ministry of Nature Protection developed “The list of measures to fulfill the commitments of the Republic of Armenia stemming from a range of environmental international conventions” and “The list of measures to fulfill the crossing objectives stemming from three global environmental conventions”. The aforementioned conventions ensure the harmonization of the policies on the national level in the domain of fulfilling the environmental conventions and programs, as well as interconnection of various multilateral environmental initiatives and efficiency increase. With the purpose to implement the partnership and cooperation agreement concluded between the Republic of Armenia and EU they put the Armenian legislation, including the legislation on the conservation and use of flora and fauna, in compliance with European directives.

41. 
    
    

Please elaborate below on the implementation of this strategy specifically focusing on: outcomes and impacts of actions taken; contribution to the achievement of the goals of the Strategic Plan of the Convention; contribution to progress towards the 2010 target; progress in implementing national biodiversity strategies and action plans; contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals; constraints encountered in implementation.