Armenia eyes private conservation model as signature initiative ahead of COP17

Armenia has an opportunity to position itself as a global leader in biodiversity conservation by promoting alternative protected areas managed by private organizations and local communities during its presidency of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, according to conservation experts.

Ruben Khachatryan, director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC), said alternative protected areas have emerged as one of the most significant topics in international biodiversity discussions over the past several years.

Khachatryan said Armenia's hosting of COP17 provides an opportunity to showcase a conservation model that could help countries make progress toward global biodiversity targets that many have struggled to achieve.

The international community has adopted the "30x30" target, which calls for protecting 30% of the world's land and marine areas by 2030. Armenia has set its own national goal of ensuring the effective conservation of 20% of its terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems by the same deadline.

However, Khachatryan said many countries have found it difficult to expand state-managed protected areas sufficiently to meet those commitments.

Armenia recently recognized alternative protected areas under national legislation, although Khachatryan said additional work is needed to clarify legal definitions and governance mechanisms. He pointed to existing community-based conservation initiatives, including the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge and projects supported by WWF Armenia, as examples of successful models that have already attracted international attention.

"We have a real opportunity to demonstrate a model that can help countries reach their conservation targets through the participation of non-state actors," Khachatryan said.

He argued that involving private landowners, businesses and local communities will be essential because governments alone often lack the financial resources needed to manage large protected landscapes.

"Even the wealthiest countries face a significant financial burden in protecting 30% of their territory," he said. "The private sector can play a crucial role."

Khachatryan cited the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge (CWR), a privately managed protected area covering approximately 30,000 hectares, as an example. The refuge is the first privately protected area in the South Caucasus and provides habitat for endangered species including the Caucasian leopard, Armenian mouflon, bezoar goat and brown bear, as well as numerous threatened bird species. It also conserves endemic plant communities unique to the region.

The refuge is monitored by eco-rangers, surveillance cameras and drones.

Khachatryan said incorporating privately managed conservation areas alongside state-protected territories could help increase Armenia's protected land coverage. Currently, protected areas account for approximately 13.1% of the country's territory. Under the new methodology, he estimated that figure could rise by about two percentage points.

He added that similar approaches are beginning to emerge elsewhere in the region, including conservation initiatives led by FPWC's partners in Georgia.

Despite the potential benefits, Khachatryan stressed that expanding protected area coverage should not become a purely statistical exercise.

"The objective is not simply to increase the percentage of protected land on paper," he said. "The quality of management and the effectiveness of conservation are equally important."

He also expressed concern that Armenia's new law on alternative protected areas does not prohibit mining activities within those territories.

"I believe it is fundamentally incompatible to speak about biodiversity conservation while allowing mining within the same protected area," Khachatryan said.