Ecology Ministry to assess environmental damage in liberated lands

By Aisha Jabbarova

The Public Council under the Ministry of Ecology will assess damage inflicted on Azerbaijan’s lands recently liberated from the Armenian occupation, the ministry has told Trend.

The council held an online meeting today to discuss issues related to assessing the environmental situation in the liberated territories, determining damage to the environment and natural resources, clarifying the plans for restoration.

The importance of active participation of members of the Public Council in the restoration of the liberated Azerbaijani territories was stressed during the meeting.

Armenia’s three-decade occupation of Azerbaijani territories extensively damaged the ecosystem, wildlife and natural resources in and around the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region. 

Armenian’s occupation, including its use of prohibited weapons during the war, damaged nature, biological diversity, water reservoirs in Azerbaijan's territories. 

Armenians also resorted to large-scale acts of ecological terror in regions they had to leave under the trilateral November peace deal that stipulated the return of Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.