Armine Kosyan
Other projects
The Conservation of Spiders in Armenia project is designed to raise awareness about the diversity of spiders in Armenia through educational, research, and community-based activities. The initiative is aimed at the integration of social sciences into arachnology research and seeks to inform students and the public about the importance of spider conservation. To further raise awareness, the project actively utilizes social media and plans to develop a website called "Spiders of Armenia." In addition, Bio-Blitz events and educational workshops help local youth and communities acquire fieldwork skills and engage them in documenting spider species using the iNaturalist application.
Fieldwork. ©Armine Kosyan.
The project plays a crucial role in advancing scientific research for species protection. One of its key objectives is the creation of a reference collection of Armenian spiders, which began in 2019. The database will be useful for further study of distribution and abundance of rare and common spider species in Armenia based on new species collections and data from citizen science. The project is using two methods of spider identification, morphological and genetic analysis, which is particularly effective for identifying juvenile spiders. By conducting thorough research and documentation, the project contributes to the establishment of a comprehensive database of Armenia's spider diversity, which will be instrumental in conservation efforts. These findings will be presented to the Armenian government and local communities to promote sustainable conservation efforts for spiders in the region.