COP17 Green Zone side event | 19 October 2026 | 10:00–11:30 AM | Main Stage
The reopening of Armenia’s controversial Amulsar gold mine shortly before COP17 has brought renewed attention to the impacts of extractive projects on biodiversity, water, communities and human rights.
At this COP17 Green Zone side event, Global Forest Coalition (GFC), Armenian Forests and the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) will bring together community leaders and civil society experts to explore struggles against extractive projects and false solutions, and the transformative, community-led alternatives that offer a different path.
The discussion will highlight human rights and biodiversity protection in mining-affected communities, legal activism and environmental justice, and women-led real solutions for forests and biodiversity, including GFC’s emerging Gender-Just Real Solutions Map.
Amulsar gold mine: biodiversity, human rights and community resistance
Nazeli of Armenian Forests and Tehmine Yenokyan of Green Armenia will discuss the ecological and human rights impacts of the Amulsar gold mine, including concerns around biodiversity loss, contamination of Lake Sevan and violations of community rights.
They will reflect on the community struggle against the mine since 2018, the revival of the project, and the role of communities and women in defending their rights and developing strategies and alternatives. The discussion will also consider KMGBF Target 3 and how communities are organising to protect lands, waters and biodiversity.
Legal activism and environmental justice
Rysul Hasan of BELA will share experiences from Bangladesh, where Indigenous peoples and traditional resource-dependent communities face dispossession from their ancestral landscapes and commons.
The discussion will explore how legal activism and Public Interest Litigation can defend community rights and protect critical biodiversity when state policies or extractivist pressures threaten local ecosystems and frontline communities. It will also highlight women-led solutions being developed by communities to safeguard forests and biodiversity.
From false solutions to gender-just real solutions
Valentina Figuera Martínez of GFC will present preliminary findings from the Gender-Just Real Solutions Map, developed with organisations from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia.
Built from the ground up, the map documents community-led practices and transformative alternatives based on gender-responsive and human rights-based approaches. The presentation will highlight solutions that advance ecosystem protection, uphold traditional knowledge and community rights, and strengthen the leadership of women and youth.
The event will conclude with a Q&A and discussion with participants.
Event details
From False Solutions to Transformative Change: Defending Territories, Protecting Forests, Advancing Justice
📅 19 October 2026
🕙 10:00–11:30 AM Yerevan time
📍 COP17 Green Zone, Main Stage
🗣️ English and Armenian
Organised by:
Global Forest Coalition (GFC)
Armenian Forests
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA)
Speakers
Valentina Figuera Martínez — Global Forest Coalition
Moderator and presenter of the Gender-Just Real Solutions Map.
Nazeli Vardanyan — Armenian Forests
Speaking on human rights and biodiversity protection in mining-affected communities, with a focus on the Amulsar gold mine.
Tehmine Yenokyan — Green Armenia
Speaking on community resistance to the Amulsar mining project, biodiversity protection and the implementation of KMGBF Target 3.
Rysul Hasan — Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA)
Speaking on legal activism, ecosystem protection and upholding the rights of marginalised communities.
About the organisers
Global Forest Coalition (GFC) is an international feminist coalition of 134 NGOs and Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations from 75 countries, defending social justice and the rights of forest peoples in forest policies. GFC carries out joint advocacy campaigns on the need to respect the rights, roles and needs of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women and youth in forest conservation and the need to address the underlying causes of forest loss.
Armenian Forests Environmental NGO (AFNGO) works to promote a prosperous society based on environmental protection and sustainable development. Its mission is to protect and enhance Armenia’s natural heritage — including forests, landscapes, water and air resources, and biodiversity — for present and future generations. AFNGO is also actively involved in drafting and improving environmental legislation and regulations.
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) is a non-governmental organisation working to promote environmental justice using Public Interest Litigation and legal avenues as core instruments. BELA works to secure legal protection for the environment, vital natural resources and the marginalised communities that depend on them, with a focus on community empowerment and the protection of environmental, natural resource and environmental rights in a just, equitable and gender-sensitive way.
