The Caucasus Wildlife Refuge celebrates its 10th anniversary

The Caucasus Wildlife Refuge, the first privately protected area in the South Caucasus is celebrating its 10th anniversary. CWR was established by the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets.

The CWR 10th anniversary celebration event took place on 8th of October in the Eco Center of the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge, not far from Urtsadzor community. The founder and director of the FPWC Ruben Khachatryan, Viva-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian, the governor of Ararat region Razmik Tevonyan and many others were among the guests.
 
“We started from 300 ha land, and not the Refuge encompasses over 30.000 ha land, and this was possible only with the support of our partners IUCN Netherlands, World Land Trust, Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo, Viva-MTS, and many other supporters. We’ve received many awards during these years, such as Frankfur Conservation Award,” the founder of the FPWC Ruben Khachatryan said during his speech, thanking his team members, all the rangers, state bodies and all partners.

Viva-MTS was at the root of the creation of CWR and has always supported nature conservation. “There was nothing here, when we arrived in this place for the first time. Everything around looked like a steppe; little or no water, no plants, and even the thought of growing trees would seem too bold. It required much persistence and commitment to start and to implement the project. Life has proven success is where there is purpose and enough willpower. I am happy to state that our partnership for so many years has yielded results. Now this is an area under special protection. Moreover, the young generation gets environmental education and learns to live in harmony with the nature in a natural environment. This is everyone’s success,” Viva-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian said.

Over the years, the Refuge evolved to become a space where the interconnected areas of biodiversity and habitat conservation, wildlife rescue, sustainable development, environmental education and ecotourism are apprehended with a holistic and community-centric approach. The Refuge is home to rare and sometimes endangered wildlife species such as the Armenian Mouflon, the Syrian Brown bear, the Bezoar goat, the Black Eurasian vulture, the Bearded vulture, the Caucasian Leopard, the Caucasian Lynx and the Armenian viper; it hosts many rare and endemic pear species, as well as some of the oldest Juniperus forests in the country.

During the event FPWC team presented the achievements of the past 10 years of establishment of the CWR and future development programs. It was also noted that on September 2021 the trap cameras of CWR fixed a footage of Nove leopard.