In the context of the human-wild animal conflict, a discussion was held today under the leadership of the Deputy Minister of Environment Aram Meimaryan on the issues of research on the behavior of brown bear cubs and ways to mitigate the threats to residents and their economies.
Representatives from interested departments and international organizations operating in the field took part in the discussion.
Welcoming the colleagues in the Ministry of Environment, Deputy Minister Aram Meimaryan noted that although the restoration of biodiversity and the increase in the number of animal species is a satisfactory result from the environmental point of view, in this case, the problem also has other worrying aspects, which are no less important.
"The problem of brown bear attacks has been in the center of attention of relevant specialists of the Ministry of Environment for a long time, studies of animal behavior, calculations of the damage caused to farms, and the international experience of solving the problem are also being studied. The solution to this issue should be complex and not subordinate environmental and social interests to each other," said the deputy minister and asked his colleagues to be more actively involved in the process in order to find solutions to the problem with joint efforts.
Arpine Panoyan, Deputy Head of the Specially Protected Areas and Biodiversity Policy Department of the Ministry of Environment, presented to her colleagues summary numerical data on attacks registered in recent years: areas of attacks, period, amount of damage caused.
Arpine Panoyan also informed that the Ministry of Environment intends to form a working group dealing with the issues of "Man-Wild Nature Conflict", in which all persons, departments and organizations interested in the problem will be involved. One of the functions of the working group will be to find solutions to the human-grey bear conflict.
The deputy minister instructed to start the process of formation of the working group as soon as possible.
The participants of the discussion presented their approaches and observations to find solutions to the problem.