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Today, the Parliament of Georgia approved the draft law of New Forest Code in its third and final reading
" The Parliament of Georgia passes one of the most important draft laws- ‘’New Forest Code’’ on the International Day for Biodiversity, which has a symbolic representation for us. New code plays an important role in the conservation and protection of ecosystem and biodiversity covering around 40% of the territory of our country. I would like to express my gratitude to the German Government and European Union for their support and contribution to the Georgian government and our Ministry in the implementation of reforms, also for taking part in the development of a draft law, which will gain a historical significance and will enable us to start a sustainable management of the forest sector in a completely new way. We have rich forest ecosystem and we see an urgent need to preserve and protect our forests, which will be guaranteed under the new law.
I would like to express my gratitude to the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Levan Davitashvili, who made decisive efforts . I thank all persons engaged in the development of the New Forest Code. The Forest Code provides a solid foundation of the forest sector reform and will consequently lead to the proper, sustainable management of our forests ”said the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Nino Tandilashvili.
Nino Tandilashvili thanked the members of the Parliament for holding interesting discussions on the draft law, which have been running in different committees for about a year. The Deputy also thanked the representatives of the non-governmental sector and all stakeholders for their active engagement in the process.
The Deputy Minister outlined the importance of the new project, which will be launched by the Ministry this year.
" We are expecting to receive a grant support from the Green Climate Fund in June. With the engagement of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the forest sector reform will be launched in three regions of Georgia - Guria, Kakheti and Mtskheta-Mtianeti regions. On the one hand, this reform will provide benefits for those living in these regions and on the other hand, it will be a step forward in the implementation of the new Forest Code in the country.
I would like to outline the importance of the EU support in all above mentioned processes - as we are all aware, in 2019 report, the European Commission approved endeavours of the Government of Georgia in the process of adopting the New Forest Code "- said Nino Tandilashvili.