Cheers for Conservation: NY Event Highlights Yerevan’s Acopian Center for the Environment

As Bildstein pointed out, “Saving one bird at a time is not the most practical way, so we try to give as much information as possible to Armenians about birds.” For this reason, the above-mentioned A Field Guide to the Birds of Armenia was published in Armenian, with Sarkis Acopian’s support, in 1999. The center uses the illustrations from the field guide for posters for children and in various publications. A field guide for butterflies is being planned.

The center offers courses to AUA students — all students there are required to take at least one course addressing environmental issues — and provides bird identification courses for the community at large.

Bildstein claimed that the Acopian Center has the best geographic information system (GIS) equipment — meaning systems capturing, analyzing and presenting data pertaining to geographic location — in Armenia: “Many government agencies come to us for maps. We’re teaching GIS to other Armenians.”

The Acopian Center partners with others with conservation concerns and is working on innovative programs in a number of fields. Some may help Armenia’s economy along the way. Bildstein explained: “Armenia is not all rocky and desolate. Valleys exist which are like the Garden of Eden. Fruits and nuts grow there. Southern Armenia in particular has great fruit, in places like Meghri.” Due to transportation difficulties, the fruit is preserved through drying. “The idea is to use the fruits from Armenia and put labels on them that they are coming from areas with organic farming where ecological importance is also protected. This helps the people of Armenia too.” Bildstein, like all the other speakers, concluded with a passionate appeal for action: “Armenia is waiting to be saved or ruined — which, is up to us.”

The final presentation of the evening was by Ani Acopian, Jeff’s 15-year-old daughter. She introduced a short film she had prepared in only a handful of days about the situation in Meghri, in southern Armenia. She went to the state park and found that the children litter without feeling any shame. The park manager said there was trash everywhere. She befriended a group of kids there: “I went on a hot day to a pool and became friends with them. I brought trash bags and told them I’d give ice cream if they cleaned the park up.” She called the kids the “trash police,” and filmed a video in order to educate them. It apparently already has had some effect. The mayor of Meghri has promised to install more trash cans, while the manager of the park adopted Ani’s strategy and began offering the children ice cream too if they kept things clean.

Karapetian later explained that all of the Acopians volunteer their own time while organizing activities on behalf of the environment. He and Jeff Acopian are fulltime employees of the Acopian Technical Company. Jeff Acopian is vice president and his brother, Greg Acopian, is the president. Alex Karapetian is director of sales and marketing. He also is in charge of the outreach work pertaining to the environment, while Keith Bildstein is the technical advisor on environmental issues. But everything began initially with the late Sarkis Acopian. Founder of the Acopian Technical Company, a power supply company, it was his passion for the environment and desire to help Armenia that eventually drew the rest of his family into action. Karapetian declared: “Family is very important for us. Sarkis created all these things for us to carry out. He set everything up for his dream to be carried on. …Our concern at these events is education. We wanted to fund this event because we thought it was a great platform for people to listen and learn about the issues. It is my generation that will have to make these changes  [environmentally].”

He added that the evening “wasn’t a financial event. The cause was the main focus. And it also was a tribute to the great things that Sarkis Acopian had done in the past. He was the one who really started the environmental movement in Armenia in the early 1990s.”

For the event, the Acopians “invited the non- Armenians because this is a global issue. Armenians can’t help every organization and this isn’t just an Armenian issue.” Interestingly, most donations for the Acopian Center’s work have come from non-Armenians so far in general. At this particular event, it approximately broke down as 60-percent Armenian, 40-percent non-Armenian. Karapetian speculated that this was perhaps “because non-Armenians are more familiar with environmental issues around the world.”

However, many books and maps were sold at the event to Armenians and non-Armenians alike. This was the second such event organized by the Acopians in the US. Karapetian explained, “I would like to host smaller-scale events throughout the year geared towards young professionals in the tri-state area and maybe something on the West Coast too. There would be one formal event and the rest would be get-togethers.” The next major event in the US will probably be another “Cheers to Conservation” reception and presentation about the Acopian Center in the Lehigh Valley, where the Acopians are from, predominantly for non-Armenians.

Alex feels that the best way for diasporan Armenians to help the situation in Armenia is by donating money, while the Acopian Center in Yerevan asks for Armenians there to volunteer their time to help clean up the streets and environment. Of course, Diasporan Armenians can also do environmental work in their local American communities.

There are several important things that should be changed in Armenia: “Armenia needs to stop cutting down trees for profit. This started from necessity, but now it is just a source of money. It is difficult to tell this to people when members of government are doing it to increase their personal wealth. People are often scared to talk about it. But if enough people get together, it will change.” Litterers in Armenia should be fined and bins set up for garbage. Parks should not be torn down for apartment complexes. “Over the last 10 to 15 years, 60 percent of green space has gone. Armenia used to consist of a majority of forests and green space in the Soviet period.” These changes have to be made domestically: “We can’t just go to Armenia and make our own rules. They have to make laws for their own country.” Solar energy and new technology can be used more.

Notwithstanding all the problems in Armenia, Alex Karapetian concluded, “We are all optimistic. We are working at the grassroots level. One person can make a difference.”