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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ARMENIA TREE PROJECT MICRO-ENTERPRISE PROGRAM RECOGNIZED AS NATIONAL WINNER OF ENERGY GLOBE AWARD FOR SUSTAINABILITY Kofi Annan and Mikhail Gorbachev Address Evening Gala Program at European Parliament in Brussels 
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, June 11, 2008 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- The backyard nursery micro-enterprise program being implemented by Armenia Tree Project (ATP) was selected as the National Winner for Armenia of the Energy Globe Awards, also known as the World Award for Sustainability. ATP representatives attended the awards ceremony on May 26 at the European Parliament, where the program was selected from among 853 projects from 109 nations.
During the televised evening gala in the European Parliament, an honorary Energy Globe Award was presented to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mikhail Gorbachev. Parliament President Hans-Gert Pottering and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso presented the award to Mr. Gorbachev for his role as a cofounder of Green Cross International. The ATP program recognized by the Energy Globe Awards is mitigating poverty-driven deforestation by creating micro-enterprise tree nurseries in northern Armenia. These nurseries are owned by hundreds of Armenia’s most impoverished families, who have doubled their annual income by participating in the program. “ATP initiated this program as a pilot project with 17 families in 2004, and since then it has grown to include 400 families this year who are growing reforestation seedlings,” stated ATP Deputy Director Jason Sohigian. “It has always been our goal that some of the additional income be invested to reduce reliance on the forests for heating and cooking fuel by creating an economy for a natural gas infrastructure in these villages.” “On behalf of our field staff and the creators of this program, we were honored to be recognized by the Energy Globe Awards for our contribution to sustainable development in this remote rural region of Armenia,” added Mr. Sohigian. “ATP was extremely proud to be selected for this prestigious award,” noted ATP Development Officer Paul Yeghiayan who also attended the event. “It has been our goal in recent years to reach out and make inroads to the development community internationally.” “The award gala in Brussels represents a unique distinction for the winners, whose projects target greater environmental protection and sustainability in handling our resources, but also serves as an accolade for the Energy Globe, which in its nine years has developed to the world’s most prominent environmental award,” read a press release after the event. The television gala included remarks by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, as well as performances by Dionne Warwick and Alanis Morissette. ABOUT ARMENIA TREE PROJECT Since 1994, Armenia Tree Project has planted and restored more than 2,000,000 trees and created hundreds of jobs for impoverished Armenians in tree-regeneration programs. The organization’s three tiered initiatives are tree planting, community development to reduce poverty and promote self-sufficiency, and environmental education to protect Armenia’s precious natural resources. For additional information, visit the web site www.armeniatree.org. ARMENIA TREE PROJECT 65 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472 USA Tel: (617) 926-TREE Email: info@armeniatree.org Web: www.armeniatree.org |
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