The Unloved Others: Invertebrate Conservation in Armenia

2026-01-26 - 08:29

Listen to the AI generated audio article. Your browser does not support the audio element. In times of crisis and everyday hardship alike, people often carry their animals with them, across cities and borders, sometimes into uncertain new lives. For years in Armenia, grassroots initiatives have raised funds to expand rescue centers and build a modest but growing infrastructure of compassion for the animals that share our streets and households. Love and care for companion animals are expressed similarly around the world. Many countries now include them in disaster and emergency management plans, recognizing that in critical situations people refuse to evacuate if it means abandoning their animals. Search “animal” in my photo gallery, and you will find more than 200 pictures of dogs, cats, bears, pandas, swans and ducks. These animals often take the spotlight for a reason: they share certain similarities with us humans. We give them names, attribute human characteristics to them, and count them among the so-called charismatic species. “Charismatic” animals shape our daily lives and culture. From David of Sassoun and his horse Kurkik Jalal to Hovhannes Tumanyan’s “The Dog and the Cat,” from Grand Candy’s Elephant and Penguin of Pingvinashen, they influence how we relate to the multi-species world and command our empathy and affection. Yet, there are the others—the unloved, disregarded, underappreciated species whose lives and deaths typically go unnoticed. Negative perceptions of many species are often tied to their physical and behavioral distance from humans, as well as their perceived ugliness. “What hope could there possibly be for the countless other creatures who are less visible, less beautiful, less a part of our cultural lives?” ask Deborah Bird Rose and Thomas van Dooren in their Death of the Disregarded, as they reflect on the ongoing biodiversity loss, mass extinction, and the limits of conservation efforts. This question resonates strongly in Armenia—a biodiversity hotspot where 549 vertebrate species and approximately 17,200 invertebrate species are registered, many of them endemic. Of these, 308 species are included in the Red Book of Animals of Armenia, which identifies and assesses the risk of extinction for rare and vulnerable animals. The book analyzes existing data, implements new studies, and evaluates conservation status according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria. Though the red lists include both vertebrates and invertebrates, conservation efforts usually focus on vertebrates. A recent study revealed that conservation effort is driven mainly by species’ popularity rather than extinction risk, ecological role, or body size. The Red Book of Armenia identifies 155 invertebrate species and 153 vertebrates as endangered at varying levels—from vulnerable to critically endangered and extinct. According to Biodiversity of Armenia authors, invertebrates are far less represented in the Red Book than vertebrates. About two-fifths of Armenia’s vertebrate species appear in the Book, while invertebrates account for less than 1% of the estimated total number of species. Due to a lack of specialists and baseline data, several major invertebrate groups are absent entirely, including arachnids and crustaceans. Fifty-eight red-listed invertebrates, including butterflies, bees and ants, are not found in any of Armenia’s protected areas, such as national parks, state reserves, natural monuments, and state sanctuaries. These areas primarily safeguard endangered vertebrates. While the remaining 95 invertebrates do occur within protected areas, most still lack any targeted conservation efforts. According to a conservation study, several barriers hinder invertebrate conservation. One major obstacle is that invertebrates and the ecological services they provide remain largely unknown to the general public. Conservationist and biodiversity researcher Arsen Gasparyan noted that he doesn’t see much empathy toward small organisms in Armenia. “This largely comes from low public awareness and limited education about the complexity of ecosystems and the importance of every component in maintaining their functionality,” he said. “This challenge is not unique to Armenia; it is a global issue.” Though rarely acknowledged, invertebrates form the foundation of nature’s many critical services: provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting. Provisioning services relate to goods people use or trade: invertebrates themselves serve as food or food providers (such as bees) and are essential to pharmaceuticals, and technological and industrial processes. Regulating services include pollination, pest control and water purification. Cultural services are equally diverse: invertebrates serve as touristic attractions (e.g., butterflies) and model organisms for biological studies. Some flagship species, such as butterflies, dragonflies and corals, also have existence values, meaning that people are willing to pay for their conservation. In Armenia, the Armenian cochineal (Vordan Karmir), led to the creation of the Vordan Karmir State Sanctuary in 1987. Finally, invertebrates provide supporting services, including nutrient cycling and soil and ecosystem formation. Low public awareness contributes to other obstacles: underfunded basic research on invertebrates, many undescribed species, and a lack of distribution data for described species. While efforts to finalize the species composition of vertebrate animals are underway in Armenia, 70% of invertebrates remain unstudied. This means that some species may disappear before they are even discovered in Armenia. These smaller lives face several disproportionate threats. According to Gasparyan, the greatest danger to less visible and soil-dwelling organisms is continuous unsustainable agricultural practices and habitat destruction. Nearly 70% of Armenia’s land is under active agriculture. Overexploitation has degraded and polluted habitats critical to many species. “For instance, we are increasingly converting natural habitats into agricultural lands, or disturbing them,” he explains. “Small-scale farmers especially convert land without proper environmental impact assessments. This is evident in regions such as Armavir, where intensive agricultural expansion and soil disturbance have significantly affected soil biodiversity.” According to the Red Book, another major threat to biodiversity comes from the disturbed stability of the Lake Sevan ecosystem and the development of the hydropower production sector. These pressures affect the lake’s water levels and fish stock, reduce water resources, dry out river courses, and disrupt fish reproduction and migration routes. Several species—especially species of molluscs and freshwater snails such as Bithynia troschelii, Shadinia Akramovskii, Acroloxus lacustris, Gyraulus regularis—are assessed as Critically Endangered (CR), meaning they face higher risk of extinction. Urban expansion and infrastructure development cause significant changes to, and even the loss of, natural habitats. Many of the most threatened species are those with very limited distribution that inhabit areas on the outskirts of Yerevan. These include Armenian endemic species such as the darkling beetle Ectromopsis bogatchevi and weevils Cyclobaris richteri and Baris mirifica, which occur primarily in the vicinity of the Nubarashen settlement. Climate change is another major threat to invertebrates. The Red Book of Armenia notes that it will reduce species’ habitat, change water patterns, and decrease groundwater levels. Other major threats include overgrazing, urbanization, illegal logging, and pesticide use. For many species, the primary risk factors remain unidentified. Reflecting on invertebrate conservation efforts, Gasparyan shared his experience visiting the Wadden Sea National Park in Germany, where they promote the “Small Five”—similar to Africa’s “Big Five” large mammals, but highlighting smaller species: a snail, lugworm, shrimp, crab, and mussel. “It was an incredible and unforgettable experience to explore the fascinating micro-world of small organisms,” he says. “Through this creative approach, they engage visitors by offering opportunities to observe these species and by using storytelling to raise awareness about the important roles small organisms play in ecosystems. I think we could adopt a similar idea in Armenia—turning various organisms such as insects, fungi, and other less visible species into local ‘superstars’ to inspire curiosity and appreciation for biodiversity.” Recognizing the pressures and local declines of invertebrates is crucial, as these losses contribute to global extinction trends. “Protecting these overlooked organisms requires promoting sustainable land management, biodiversity-friendly practices, and raising farmer awareness about the role soil biodiversity plays in maintaining ecosystem health and productivity,” Gasparyan says. In response to death and extinction, Thomas van Dooren suggested that we need more storytelling—to add flesh and bones of the dead and dying on the very edge of extinction. According to him, such stories can widen and illuminate our understanding of what particular extinctions mean and why they matter. They allow us to acknowledge and even mourn, and they take us into new worlds of appreciation and responsibility. So, how do we decide whom to love? Perhaps, the answer begins with attention and passionate immersion: noticing, studying closely, and renarrating the familiar encounters and stories of the past. Maybe by retelling our childhood stories from a different point of view? A woman not wanting to do chores and eventually marrying a hardworking tradesman stands at the center of Hovhannes Tumanyan’s “Lazy Huri.” But also central is the aunt who turned into a bug because of all the work she did. Intentionally or through interpretation, in a single scene Tumanyan recognizes one of history’s most essential workers: an unnamed, uncategorized bug. One that could be any of them. Red-listed or not. 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