Community-Led Tree Planting Proposal
Yerevan needs a legal framework for participatory greening—a co-management model that allows residents to plant and care for trees at their own expense under city supervision.
Status: Sent to the Mayor's office.
Currently, many tree wells across Yerevan’s sidewalks sit empty. Yet, residents and businesses lack a clear, legal pathway to plant trees on their own without risking fines or violating urban regulations.
We have developed a proposal to solve this through a streamlined notification system. Our goal is to empower the community to legally plant high-quality, mature saplings in these vacant spots, while adhering to unified city standards.
This initiative will accelerate the restoration of Yerevan’s green canopy by leveraging community resources and reducing the burden on the municipality. To ensure high survival rates and proper maintenance, we propose starting with a pilot project in a single district to refine technical workflows before city-wide implementation.
- Read the original letter (PDF, RUS)
- Read the original letter (PDF, ARM)
Response
On January 7, 2026 a response was received from the Mayor's office, you can download it from here.
The text reads:
In response to your online application No. 759123 directed to the Yerevan Municipality on 22.12.2025 (registration number D-142777-25), I inform you that according to the information provided on 29.12.2025 by the "Greening and Environmental Protection" CNCO (Community Non-Commercial Organization): the organization welcomes the citizen's concern regarding the methods proposed for Yerevan's green zones.
There have been cases in the city of Yerevan where citizens, without informing the CNCO, have planted—on their own initiative—various types of small saplings in green stands of various types and categories in the capital. These saplings did not meet the standards for planting material used by the organization and were subsequently moved by CNCO employees to the open ground of the greenhouse-nursery facility.
The tree planting technology proposed by the citizen is applied in a number of countries—China, Japan, etc.—however, it has not resulted in success in all cases.
In the city of Yerevan, numerous tree species corresponding to planting material standards—acquired annually by various benefactor organizations through their own funds—are established in Yerevan's various parks, public gardens, and urban forests during the spring or autumn planting periods through the joint efforts of the CNCO and the benefactor organizations.
Timeline
- 2025/12/18: the draft was first published on our website.
- 2025/12/22: the draft was sent to the Mayor's office (D-142777-25).
- 2026/01/07: a response received.