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Levan Davitashvili: " Quality management and expansion of protected areas is one of the key priorities of our Policy"
Two draft laws on the ‘’Establishment and Management of the National Park of Erusheti ‘’ and ‘’Establishment and Management of the Borjomi Kharagauli Protected Areas’’prepared by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture has been approved by Georgian Government at today’s session.
“Expanding as well as quality management of protected areas is one of our priorities; Our strategy aims to preserve biodiversity and develop economic opportunities around protected areas. We aim to develop the ecotourism, which has been developing very dynamically in recent years ”said Levan Davitashvili, Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture after the government session.
According to the Minister, a new protected area will be established on the territory of Akhaltsikhe and Aspindza Municipalities, the Erusheti National Park, covering an area of 11 385 ha. The establishment of the Erusheti Park will contribute to the protection of biodiversity, enhancing transboundary cooperation and involving local people in the tourism services.
"The establishment of the Erusheti Park raises a new perspective of cross-border cooperation on about 38 kilometers. Erusheti Park is close to the Kotskhovi Managed Reserve, which is located on the border of Turkey. Such cooperation is very important for the preservation of unique animal species and for the protection of special species of flora "the Minister said.
Moreover, we plan to expand Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park in Adigeni Municipality; The area covers 4 137 ha. The purpose of the Borjomi-Kharagauli Protected Areas Expansion Project is to create ecological corridors for large mammals, especially for two species of the Red List of Georgia, the Caucasian deer and the Caucasian Chamois in the western portion of Caucasus.
The expansion of the National Park will also help to increase the population of the Caucasian chamois and protect the unique coniferous forests of the region. At present, Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park includes 60,000 hectares; After the expansion, it will be about 65,000 hectares.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture is actively working to expand protected areas and establish new ones.
The expansion / establishment of protected areas facilitates to the conservation / conservation of Georgia's unique biodiversity and development of ecotourism.
In 2019, the area of protected areas was increased by 7,544 hectares (10.5%) compared to the previous year, making up 9.6% of the country.
In 2020, the protected areas will be expanded by 100 thousand hectares.