Translation: Russian

In December 2024, Armen Begoyan, Director of the public organization “Kanachapatum,” stated that elms and poplars have very short lifespans, currently around 70-80 years, and need to be replaced. Two years earlier, similar plans were announced by Artsvi Grigoryan, the organization’s chief dendrologist. He claimed that all maples, poplars, and elms should be replaced, adding that this accounts for about 60% of all trees in Yerevan. Now, these plans have been reiterated with an added urgency — “as soon as possible.” This suggests that felling will likely begin in spring 2025, likely in March, based on the timeline from 2024.

Trees in the city serve many functions, including providing shade, reducing noise and dust, and creating habitats for insects and animals. While some residents might dismiss the importance of birds, insects, or noise reduction, shade and dust affect everyone.

We lack precise data on the health of Yerevan residents and mortality statistics. However, we can estimate the impact of tree loss on human health based on examples from other countries.

In the U.S. in 2002, an outbreak of the emerald ash borer began. This beetle destroys living and healthy ash trees within a few years, and there is no effective way to combat it. In northern states, ash trees comprised 20% to 40% of urban greenery, reaching up to 60% in states like Minnesota. Nearly all these trees died. This resulted in excess mortality among the population: 15,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases (due to heat) and another 6,000 from respiratory problems (due to dust) over five years.

The affected states have a combined population of about 118 million people, and the excess mortality was equivalent to 0.02% of the population. This occurred in a country with a highly developed healthcare system and an average 20% loss of greenery. In Yerevan, the numbers would likely be much higher. Even with this conservative estimate, losing 60% of greenery could result in approximately 1,000 additional deaths — about 260 people per year. The Yerevan Municipality either deems these lives expendable or fails to understand the consequences, raising questions about their competence.

Armen Begoyan often claims that trees aged 70-80 years are old, weak, and could fall, posing a danger to residents and property. Hence, elms, ashes, and poplars need to be urgently removed for public safety. (It would be interesting to compare how many people are killed annually by falling trees versus those killed by heat and dust. Unfortunately, the Municipality provides no such data, merely citing the danger as a fact, keeping residents fearful.)

Begoyan’s statements about the lifespan of trees are only partly true: poplars in the wild live 80-100 years, but with proper care in cultivated landscapes, they can live up to 300 years. Elms can live 150-200 years. This means Yerevan’s trees are not young but could easily last another 20-40 years. There is no urgent need to replace them, except for the convenience of the director of the landscaping company.

Globally, arborists have long developed gradual tree replacement mechanisms that mitigate negative impacts on cities and residents. The main approach is phased replacement. For instance, every second tree is replaced; once the replacements mature and fulfill their functions, the remaining trees are replaced. This prevents cities from becoming barren, ensures residents retain shade, provides habitats for birds, and continues to filter dust.

Why this approach isn’t used in Yerevan remains unclear. It would cost nothing extra for landscapers. The same number of trees could be replaced, of the same species, but instead of clearing one street entirely, they could work on two (or ideally three or four), replacing only part of the trees. The amount of cutting, planting, and waste removal would remain unchanged.

Why isn’t this happening? Either (1) the landscapers are indifferent to the lives and health of residents and act solely for their convenience, or (2) they are incompetent and unaware of modern practices, failing to see the value of trees.

Trees, of course, will grow back after total replacement. But the main species used for greenery — maples, ashes, elms, plane trees, and chestnuts — only begin to fulfill their functions at 20 years, when their canopy diameter reaches 8-10 meters, and fully mature at 40 years with canopies 15-20 meters wide. By using 10-year-old planting stock, the Municipality is degrading the city’s condition for decades.

After these procedures, the Municipality will undoubtedly boast about thousands of planted trees and hectares of restored parks. But in reality, greenery will only return to its pre-replacement state in 15-20 years. If “more decorative” species like redbuds or sakuras are used, the city will never regain its former green cover — such species will create more problems than they solve.

All this could be avoided by slightly adjusting current practices. Gradual replacement should replace total replacement, limiting the replacement of trees on any single street to no more than 25% every five years. This would allow for the full renewal of Yerevan’s greenery over 20 years.

Better still, instead of replacing existing trees, new ones should be planted in areas without any greenery. As of 2024, Yerevan’s greenery was only 39% of its 1990 level, prior to the “dark years.” Reducing it by another 60% would be barbaric.

January 18, 2025.

Additional information

  1. Armen Begoyan, project manager for Yerevan’s landscaping and environmental protection since 2019. In 1994, he graduated from the Polytechnic Institute, Faculty of Cybernetics, specializing in the automation of information processing and management systems. In 1996, he graduated from the same institute’s Faculty of Social Sciences with a degree in law. From 2004 to 2017, he worked in betting companies. He had no education or experience even remotely related to vegetation prior to his appointment.