UN Family in Armenia supports tree planting Initiative

12/4/2010

Heads of UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes in Armenia, together with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, representatives of the World Council of Churches Armenia Inter-Church Charitable Round Table Foundation, the Armenian Tree Project Charitable Foundation and environmental protection activists, planted trees in Etchmiadzin today on the occasion of the International Mother Earth Day.

The green area will serve for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Church visitors and for general public. This is a part of a generous initiative of the World Council of Churches Armenia Inter-Church Charitable Round Table Foundation to plant 1.5 million trees in various regions of Armenia.

UN member states at the “Earth Summit” in 1992 recognized their responsibility to promote harmony with nature and the planet to achieve a just balance among economic, social and environmental needs of the present and future generations of humanity.

Ms. Dafina Gercheva, the UN Resident Coordinator said: “I and my UN colleagues are pleased to be here today together with Armenians to support their efforts aimed to restore the green areas in the country. It is good to remember that we don’ t own the planet, we belong to it and are responsible for the preservation of its flora and fauna.”

His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians conveyed his blessings to the organizers and stressed the importance of the care for God-creation, nature.

The UN declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity. Throughout the year countless initiatives are organized to disseminate information, promote the protection of nature and encourage everyone to take action to reduce the constant loss of biological diversity worldwide.

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