Armenia Forest Landscape Restoration Note

This note synthesizes multiple reports produced under World Bank support to the Government of Armenia (GoA) in undertaking landscape restoration opportunities assessment and provides a detailed overview of opportunities and challenges in the forestry sector. Armenia is a forest-poor country; only 11.2 percent of the territory (334,100 hectares (ha) is forested, which is concentrated in three marzes: Tavush and Lori in the north and Syunik in the south. The predominant forest type is naturally grown broad-leaved mountain forest with a small area of pine forest. Estimates on the state of the forests, their extent, quality, health, and harvested volumes vary widely depending on the data sources and methodology used. Based on wood consumption data, harvesting volumes must be much higher than officially reported, while forest growth is lower than the current official estimates. These divergences, combined with limited silvicultural management and exacerbated by fires and uncontrolled grazing, mean that sustainable forest use is clearly far from guaranteed. The note has been developed through a consultative process and is expected to inform all relevant stakeholders on the status of the forest sector and opportunities to further improve it. The objective of this note is to strengthen the dialogue with Armenia on the forest sector considering the ongoing reforms and to explore how the country can reverse landscape degradation and increase its contribution to post-pandemic economic recovery