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The registration -inventory of Georgia’s forests to launch
With the support of the European Union and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the process of registration and inventory of Georgia’s forests is launched. Four municipalities are selected in the initial stage.
Lagodekhi is the first of four target municipalities where this support to the National Forestry Agency of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia resulted in the execution of a forest inventory covering more than 21,000 hectares. The data collected will provide the basis for the development of a sustainable forest management plan. By the end of 2020, similar forest inventories will be carried out in the Akhmeta, Tetritskaro and Dedoplistskaro municipalities.
At the meeting, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, Levan Davitashvili along with the Head of UNDP, Louisa Vitton discussed ongoing and planned forest management activities, as well as future vision of sustainable forest management in Georgia .
“Since 90s, inventory works in Georgia have not been implemented in Georgia. With the support of the European Union and UNDP we have trained 15 young specialists, developed a methodology, created a new electronic program. Updated forest information, including both quantitative and qualitative indicators, which is crucial for proper forest planning.
This is a key prerequisite for sustainable management. Valuable works in Lagodekhi will be fully analyzed by the end of the year, ”Levan Davitashvili said.
As was mentioned, the European Union (EU) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) supports the protection of Georgia's rich natural resources, introduction of sustainable forest management and enhancement of national expertise in forest management, which is of paramount importance.
The young specialists, who have passed relevant training courses at different universities of Georgia with the help of forestry specialists of the National Forestry Agency participate in the forest registration inventory process. 15 specialists were retrained under the project, with the support of the EU and UNDP.
The forestry project is a part of the EU's long-term assistance to promoting effective rural development policy in Georgia and enhancing economic opportunities for rural people. The rural development program, ENPARD, has been running since 2013 and will be continued until 2022, with a total budget of 179.5 million euros.
The Programme Manager for Rural Development, Civil Protection and Crisis Management of the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, Ketevan Khutsishvili; UNDP Head in Georgia, Louisa Vinton; Head of the National Forestry Agency, Archil Nikoleishvili as well as representatives of the relevant departments of the Ministry attended the meeting.