Lake Sevan - ecological disaster

In the heart of the Armenia highlands is the huge Lake Sevan, also known as the Armenian Sea. Covering 950sq km (Lake Taupo is 620), the level of the lake was lowered by 18m in the 1940s and 50s in order to create more arable land around the lake. To increase fish stocks new species of fish were introduced to lake. The result was an ecological disaster and is it not surprising that one of the engineers behind the project, Soukias Manasserian, was also an engineer on the catastrophic Aral Sea project.

The new fish species drove the indigenous species to the brink of extinction and the lower levels led to a toxic algae bloom, not previously seen before. In more recent years, environmentalists have campaigned to have the lake levels raised. While the process of raising the water level is not difficult, in the intervening years, homes, businesses and hotels have been built along the shores, many of which are owned by influential and politically powerful people.

Of course the lake is the home of an important religious complex dating back to the 7th century. Once an island, the ancient churches are now high and dry on a peninsula.