The Government approved a package of draft laws on amendments to the Law “On Specially Protected Nature Areas” and related legislation at its session.
“This is a reform-oriented amendment, as the Law “On Specially Protected Natural Areas” has been revised in its entirety and can be considered a fundamentally new law,” noted Hambardzum Matevosyan.
The Minister highlighted several key changes and innovations:

• the introduction of the institution of community-based protected areas, enabling communities to assess, designate and manage the SPNAs of local importance,
• the establishment of a clear set of tools to improve the investment environment of natural monuments and adjacent territories, providing both communities and legal entities with the opportunity to manage natural monuments through competitive procedures,
• the provision allowing construction within the SPNAs exclusively for the implementation of investment programmes,the introduction of regulations for the protection and sustainable use of valuable ecosystems (OECMs), including eco-corridors, botanical gardens, forest parks, arboreta and biosphere reserves,
• the comprehensive revision of the legal framework governing the creation, classification, protection and use regimes of the SPNAs, as well as the key concepts defined in the law.

One of the objectives of revising the law was to align it with international standards, which is particularly important in the context of hosting and chairing the COP17.