Sometimes your first impression is: this place is beautiful, enchanting, magical. But over the years and after many visits,you can come to question if indeed your initial take was correct.
Fresh eyes can make all the difference.
In late September, an eclectic and inquisitive group of CNF supporters joined me on a weeklong adventure through nature and culture in Armenia and Georgia. We visited several of CNF’s present and future projects along with the monasteries and museums on the way.
Khosrov Forest, Dilijian and Kazbeghi National Parks are places that, after six years of building CNF, have become familiar to me. But for most of our 15 guests, many from distant corners of the globe, this visit was their first.
Their enthusiasm for and wonderment at the sights we saw and the work we do have refreshed my vision and renewed my conviction in the beauty of this region and the importance of our mission.
I cannot thank them enough.*
David
*Thanks go also of course to the CNF friends, advisors and sponsor organizations named below for their special contributions to the success of the trip.
• Ministry of Nature Protection of Armenia, and Minister Aram Harutyunyan
• Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Georgia, and Minister Khatuna Gogaladze
• National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, Director Arman Khachaturyan & Syuzanna Azoyan
• Chateau Mukhrani and TBC Bank and its Chairman Mamuka Khazaradze
• CNF Advisory Board Members Gabriela von Habsburg, Ian Hague, Nina Hovnanian, & Hartmut Jungius
• CNF Events Coordinator John Graham
