Khosrov Forest in Danger: Should "Matagh" Meals and Campfires be Banned?

18:10, July 18, 2012

Varantsov Barseghyan, who runs the Khosrov Forest National Reserve, told Hetq that the repair of an 8 kilometer vehicular road is vital to allow for fire fighting equipment to get into the forest.

It seems that many local residents use the sprawling 24,000 hectare reserve in Ararat Marz as a convenient spot to prepare matagh; a pagan/Christian ritual of animal sacrifice. The slaughtered animal is then prepared and eaten.

Barseghyan told Hetq that large sections of the reserve have already been destroyed by fires left by careless picnickers and that the last such fire was caused by an instructor from Yerevan's College of Engineering.

"He killed the rooster and left the fire smouldering when he left. The damage was extensive," Barseghyan said.  Read more... (420 words)

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