AEN helped secure funding to support the following project in 2017:

Partner Organization: ARK Ecological NGO. ARK is a registered non-profit NGO which is developing infrastructure for sustainable ecotourism and spreading ideas and practices of permaculture. ARK is dedicated to promoting sustainable development and implementing solutions that provide social, economic and environmental benefits to the region of Syunik in southern Armenia.

Project Description: Funds were used to build staff capacity and further ARK's mission. Specifically, ARK, along with volunteers, advanced the ideas and practices of permaculture through the following activities - started a community based permaculture garden in Arajadzor, developed a permaculture course and plans to familiarize 100 farmers with principles and practices of permaculture over the next 3 years and held a permaculture workshop for 16 participants in the village of Tsav. In addition, ARK conducted the following activities to increase ecotourism opportunities - scouted and mapped 5 new hiking trails and made directories for 7 new hiking trails, installed 6 geocaches near main sights of Kapan and repaired the stairs leading to the Halidzor Fortress.

Contact ARK Ecological NGO for more information about this project.