Since 2005, EcoLur has undertaken public information campaigns through the monitoring of ecological “hot spots.” The monitoring analyses the compliance of government authorities’ decisions with, among other things: Article 33.2 of the Armenian Constitution, which provides that everyone shall have the right to live in an environment favorable to his or her health and well-being; Article 10, which provides that the state shall ensure the protection of the environment and the reasonable utilization of natural resources; national legislation and regulations relating to environmental protection, such as those requiring environmental impact assessment; and international and regional treaties that Armenia has ratified, like the Aarhus Convention. EcoLur considers hot spots to be both specific regions and themes, such as mining, water, air and climate change. Overall, the methodology for campaigns includes collection of documents, field trips, meetings with the local population to learn their perspectives, involvement of experts, dissemination of information (including over social media sites and through their own website), holding demonstrations, issuing press releases, maintaining a blog, and convening round table discussions. EcoLur’s website also displays a map that shows environmentally vulnerable places.
For example, since 2008, EcoLur has undertaken hot spot informational campaigns for the regions of Sevan, aimed at the preservation of the Sevan Lake ecosystem; Yerevan, aimed at protecting green zones in Yerevan; and Teghout, concerning copper and molybdenum mine development in the Teghout forest. Since 2011, it has undertaken the Kapan informational campaign, which aims at protecting the rights to health and a healthy environment from pollution by heavy and toxic metals caused by opencast development of the Shahumyan Gold-polymetallic Mine. EcoLur has been able to disseminate information from its website, www.ecolur.org, in three languages, including English.
See the EcoLur website: www.ecolur.org.