At the initiative of the Ministry of Environment, an extended consultation was held on the human-brown bear conflict to discuss the behavior of individual bears and ways to mitigate the threat to residents and their farms.
Since early spring this year, the Ministry of Environment has been receiving calls from different regions about bear attacks, damage to citizens and their farms.
 The Head of Department for specially protected areas of nature and biodiversity policy of Ministry of Environment Voskehat Grigoryan, informed his colleagues that the problem is serious, as it contains threats to the health and life of citizens, socio-economic status, as well as important environmental components.
The brown bear is registered in the "Red Book" of Animals of the Republic of Armenia. The RA Criminal Code envisages responsibility for killing the animal: a fine in the amount of 400-600 times the minimum wage or detention for 2-3 months with compensation of 1 to 5 million drams.
Every animal inhabiting the nature of Armenia is an integral part of our country's ecosystem, a key link in the protection of biodiversity, any solution to the problem must balance the environmental, socio-economic interests.
Throughout the above period, work was done by each of the stakeholders participating in the meeting to find possible solutions.
Earlier, the Ministry of Environment delegated to the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study on the prevalence and number of bears in a certain local area, and to assess the threat posed by bears.
During the meeting, the results of those studies were presented, various proposals for the solution of the problem were voiced, from the material and technical re-equipment of the citizens to the financial compensation of the damages.
The proposal to study the behavior of animals for a longer period was also discussed.
The meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister Anna Mazmanyan, Adviser to the Minister Sahak Grigoryan, Head of Department for Specially Protected Areas of Nature and Biodiversity Policy of Ministry of Environment Voskehat Grigoryan , the representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situationsof RA, Vayots Dzor, Aragatsotn, Shirak Regional Administrations, the Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology, the Hunters and Fishermen Association, Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Armenian branch of the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU).