President Ilham Aliyev said 60,000 hectares of forest were destroyed in Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar, Lachin and Zangilan districts during their occupation.
Aliyev made the statement Sept. 22 at a meeting on the state program for developing the mining and metallurgy industries in 2027-2030.
He said forests in the territories were cut down, looted and sold. Aliyev also said forested areas were set on fire before Armenian forces withdrew from the Kalbajar and Lachin districts following the 2020 Second Karabakh War.
Resources in the Returned Districts
Aliyev linked the effects of the occupation to delays in developing Azerbaijan’s mining industry, saying a significant share of deposits identified during the Soviet era had been in territories outside Baku’s control.
The government now plans to accelerate development of gold, copper and molybdenum deposits in the Kalbajar, Aghdara and Zangilan districts and reassess reserves using modern geological exploration methods.