On June 14, the final workshop of the the activity "Development of 2024-2030 Strategy for Restoration of Lake Sevan Ecosystem" took place.

Ara Mkrtchyan, Deputy Minister of the Environment of Armenia, Frank Hess, Head of Cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, and Konstantin Sokulsky, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Armenia made opening remarks at the workshop. The event was also attended by representatives of state institutions dealing with the regulation of the sector, representatives of scientific, international and non-governmental organizations.

RA Deputy Minister of Environment Ara Mkrtchyan emphasized the importance of the developed strategy in his welcoming speech and stated, "Our goal is to implement the strategy and introduce adaptive management practices to ensure the long-term stability of Lake Sevan."

Frank Hess, Head of Cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, underlined that the financial investments of both state and international donor organizations are important for overcoming the problems of Lake Sevan and highlighted the evidence base and participatory approach of the processes within the project.

Konstantin Sokulsky, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Armenia, emphasized the importance of the strategy, noting that it is a comprehensive document that provides an opportunity to implement a series of measures that will contribute to alleviating the problems of Lake Sevan and improving the water quality.

During the workshop, the main goal, principles, methodology, and necessary measures and sub-measures for the lake's restoration as well as the detailed action plan with financial analysis and comprehensive risk assessment were presented and discussed.

The activity “Development of 2024-2030 Strategy for Restoration of Lake Sevan Ecosystem” is part of the “Environmental Protection of Lake Sevan” (EU4Sevan) UNDP project and has been implemented by a “CIVITTA AM” (Armenia). 

The Project “Environmental Protection of Lake Sevan” (EU4Sevan) is co- funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is part of the the BMZ-funded programme “Management of natural resources and safeguarding of ecosystem services for sustainable rural development in the South Caucasus (ECOserve)․” The project is implemented by GIZ and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).