Dilijan, Armenia.
The Initiatives for Development of Armenia (IDeA) Foundation and the Caucasus Nature Fund (CNF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding yesterday to develop the ecotourism industry in Dilijan and the city’s surrounding communities.
IDeA and CNF will work together to design a comprehensive development strategy and action plan for sustainable ecotourism development, planning, promotion and management.
Both organizations also will combine their efforts to attract investments that will allow for implementation of community development projects in “specially protected nature areas” and surrounding communities.
Armen Gevorgyan, Head of IDeA Foundation, and Daniel Sepic, CNF Program Director, co-signed the memorandum.
“Dilijan city and adjacent communities have all prerequisites necessary for ecotourism development, and along with our partner, CNF, we are going to join efforts in the implementation of projects aimed at the development of this sector,” said Gevorgyan. “We expect them to not only promote biodiversity conservation and tourism development, but to also yield a tangible result in terms of making the social-economic life of the communities more dynamic and creating jobs in the ecotourism sector.”
Founded by entrepreneurs and philanthropists Ruben Vardanyan and Veronika Zonabend, IDeA focuses on developing programs that achieve tangible socio-economic development and assist Armenia in transition from the survival model to the prosperity model. The foundation is committed to promoting social entrepreneurship in Armenia through investments in long-term, non-profit projects, as well as ensuring their sustainability.
Since 2014, IDeA has focused on transforming Dilijan into an important cultural, economic, educational and resort city, including the formation of the UWC Dilijan College, creation of a city youth center and the development of a Women’s Resource Center providing local women with opportunities for self-realization as well as fostering their integration with the city’s socioeconomic life.
Established in 2007 by the German Government, Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund, CNF is a conservation trust fund that aims to safeguard the biologically rich and diverse Caucasus ecoregion. The group provides matching grants and management assistance to the protected areas of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, building capacity to sustain the parks for future generations.
The fund aims to support 20 of the Caucasus’ key protected areas by 2020. The parks are chosen on the basis of their biological importance and opportunities for coordination with other donors in the region to increase the impact of our funding.
According to CNF, Armenia currently has 380,000 hectares of protected lands. CNF currently assists in protecting Dilijan National Park, Arevik National Park, the Gnishik Community-Managed Protected Area, the Shikahogh National Reserve, Zangasur Biosphere Complex, the Khosrov Forest Reserve, the Arzakan-Meghradzor Sanctuary, and Lake Arpi National Park.
Sepic called the joint agreement between IDeA and CNF “a bright day for Dilijan.”
“CNF is now in its sixth year of cooperation with Armenia’s protected areas, supporting their operations and upgrading PA management effectiveness,” said Sepic. “We have only recently begun to work with Dilijan National Park, and as we begin our effort it is great to be joined by a strong partner like IDeA Foundation. Working together we will achieve more, more quickly.
