On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Armenian dram, the Central Bank of Armenia, the Union of Banks of Armenia, and 18 commercial banks, in cooperation with My Forest Armenia, are establishing 50 ha of new forest in Jrashen and Urasar communities of Lori region, planting 160,000 trees (oak, maple, beech, linden, wild pear, wild apple, walnut, birch, and other tree species). The forest thus established will symbolize viability of the national currency as an enduring and future-oriented asset.
20 hectares of the newly established forest will be in Jrashen 2, 30 more hectares - in Urasar. Upon expiry of the community land use term, the land and the forest ecosystem created on it will be returned to the community. Armenia is a sparsely forested country, and the present level of forest cover is not sufficient to maintain the natural eco balance of the country. This event is among the best examples of the financial and banking system’s appreciation of the unique role of creating lasting values, social responsibility, and nature preservation.
On April 29, under the leadership of Martin Galstyan, Governor of the Central Bank, Mher Ananyan, Chairman of the Board of the Union of Banks of Armenia, Seyran Sargsyan, Executive Director of the Union of Banks of Armenia, managers and employees of commercial banks, Aram Khachatryan, Governor of Lori region, and Andre Gumuchdjian, Founder and Executive Director of My Forest Armenia, and other guests personally took part in the forest establishment activities. With participation of all guests, a symbolic tree planting event took place in the afforestation area of Jrashen 2 of My Forest Armenia environmental organization located in Jrashen community. Endemic Armenian forest tree species were planted.
After tree planting, the guests visited Benjamin Gumuchdjian afforestation area in Gugark. After a short tour, Martin Galstyan, Governor of the Central Bank, Mher Ananyan, Chairman of the Board of the Union of Banks of Armenia, and Andre Gumuchdjian, Founder and Executive Director of My Forest Armenia, signed a memorandum of cooperation.
“Today, we are launching the events dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Armenian dram, to be held in 2023. It is very symbolic that the first event is tree planting. The Central Bank attaches great importance to supporting environmental initiatives in our country. Within the framework of social responsibility, we, together with commercial banks and My Forest Armenia, are happy to contribute to improvement of the environment. At the same time, we are committed to the “green” agenda and we incorporate it as much as possible into our daily activities and even our approaches to financial regulation,” - Martin Galstyan said.
“Environmental programs are no less important for us. For years, especially during the past 50 years, people have been continuously damaging the nature. It is now time to understand that we are part of the nature and we preserve ourselves by preserving it. Therefore, supporting the 50-hectare forest establishment initiative is our modest effort to preserve the nature,” - said Mher Ananyan, Chairman of the Board of the Union of Banks of Armenia.
“Among the events dedicated to the 30th anniversary of introduction of the dram, the establishment of a new forest and tree planting will perhaps be one of the most memorable initiatives implemented jointly by the Central Bank and all commercial banks. Our participation in this environmental initiative is a contribution to creating a lasting value and sustainable future. Every tree planted today is the demonstration of our care for the environment and a long-term social responsibility contribution towards the future. By financing the future, we are already trying to secure a green future for the present and future generations,” - said Seyran Sargsyan, Executive Director of the Union of Banks of Armenia.
“This cooperation is of great importance to us, since more and more people are starting to realize the vital importance of forests for our country and people. After all, we all need oxygen and drinking water; forests do much more than simply cleaning the atmosphere and preserving the water supplies - they prevent desertification and soil erosion, serve as irreplaceable factors for biodiversity preservation, reduce air temperature, and help in the combat against climate change,” - Andre Gumuchdjian said.
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November 22 is the birthday of the Armenian dram. On that very day in 1993, the Central Bank of Armenia announced the start of circulation of the national currency instead of the Soviet ruble. The population of the republic has been using the Armenian currency – AMD, for 30 years by now.
On March 27, 1992, a special committee determined the name of the national currency of the RA – “dram” and its product unit – “luma”. By the majority of votes, “dram” and “luma” were chosen as the main and exchangeable currency.
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My Forest Armenia environmental non-governmental organization was founded in 2019 with the aim to increase forest areas in Armenia. By empowering local communities, under the direction of scientists and expert foresters, the mission of the organization is to sustainably increase forest coverage and to preserve biodiversity by planting endemic tree species. During the 4 years of operation, more than 1,360,000 trees were planted in Lori region, on an area of 387 hectares, and reforestation activities were performed in Dilijan National Park. The number of permanent employees of the organization is 49, joined by another 200 employees from local communities during the afforestation and preservation season.