Three local communities and the World Wildlife Fund jointly manage this protected area. Gnishik seeks to maintain Armenia’s biodiversity and has implemented projects to protect over 900 species of plants and around 525 species of animals in its territory.
Gnishik has several hiking trails and camping sites. Check out the information panels at the site’s entrances to check the distance and difficulty level of each hike. The trails will take you through beautiful flora and give you spectacular views of rolling hills, gorges and streams of the surrounding landscape.
Gnishik Community-Managed Protected Area
Natural Attractions
Noravank Important Bird Area (IBA)
Part of the Noravank IBA, one of over 12,000 Important Bird Areas worldwide, rests in Gnishik. IBAs are meant to protect a bird species or a group of species and the habitats where they live for at least part of their life-cycles. The IBA features over 190 species of birds, which include Short-toed snake eagles (Circaetus gallicus), Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), Eurasian eagle-owls (Bubo bubo) and Semi-collared flycatchers (Ficedula semitorquata) among others. To learn more about bird conservation in Armenia, visit the website of the Armenian Society for the Protection of Birds.