YEREVAN. – Over the next eight years, $18.7 million will be invested in Armenia to establish new forest areas on the country, the Ministry of Environment informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Armenia, which is extremely vulnerable to climate change, has begun to expand its forested areas and reduce carbon footprint from its forests.

This work is planned through the Forestry Program of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the first large-scale project funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in Europe and Central Asia.

This GCF eight-year program, whose total budget is $18.7 million, will be based on funding and technical skills provided by the Armenian government, the Austrian Development Agency, the Autonomous Province Bolzano-South Tyrol, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Armenia Office, and FAO.

Within the framework of this program, an agreement was signed on June 15 by Deputy Minister of Environment Anna Mazmanyan and FAO Representative in Armenia, Raimund Jehle.

And the WWF Armenia Office and FAO on Monday signed a $ 200,000 co-funding agreement as an in-kind investment.

This is the first large-scale FAO project in Europe and Central Asia supported by the GCF, and the first funding proposal for Armenia's forestry.