May 21, 2025 marked by an event organized jointly by the UNDP Biodiversity Finance Plan
(BIOFIN) Project and the Ministry of Environment that took place at Vanadzor's Boo Cafe under the slogan of “United by Nature: International Cooperation Day”. High ranking government officials, UNDP Resident Representative Natia Natsvlishvili and representatives from CSOs and academis, as well as other interested parties were among the guests.
The event kicked off with the official opening of Boo Cafe eco-touristic infrastructure
constructed within the framework of a grant awarded by the GEF Small Grants Programme, which was later followed by series of activities during which the guests were able to get acquainted with the project implementation process, to make a tour around the pump track which was culminated by the initially announced forest hiking.
The main objective of the event was to showcase the local solution which made the business and nature compatible through harmony. The event participants were impressed by the initiative first of its kind in scale, at the core of which was the vision of a young businesswoman moved to Vanadzor from Yerevan, who decided to make the mountain bike sport a lifestyle in Armenia attracting foreign visitors and also raising the issue of endangered species, such as the extinction of owl, the concept of which was taken into account while developing the whole business idea.
As part of the national biodiversity week celebration, this event was unique in its conceptual highlights both in terms of practical activities, creation of multistakeholder networking platform, as well as through the efforts of making similar stories publicly available.

The coverage of the event can be accessed here.