Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

Otar Shamugia: "Strengthening of environmental patrolling teams is planned for 2022"

"We understand that all new regulations can not be adopted and implemented in practice unless we have an effective and robust system of control and oversight," said Mr. Otar Shamugia, Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, who underlined the importance of capacity building in the Department of Environmental Supervision. 

According to the Minister, the capabilities of the Department have significantly improved in recent years, and several measures are planned to carry out in this area in 2022 as well: we plan to strengthen environmental patrolling teams by 2022. Currently, 82 crews are operating across the country and we plan to increase this number to 103.
 
This year, we plan to purchase modern equipment amounting up to GEL 2 million, including drones, photo traps, radios, and other modern equipment, "- said Mr. Otar Shamugia.

Minister Shamugia noted, that despite several important measures taken by the state, effective enforcement and control remain a challenge in the environmental protection field.

Subsequently, the Ministry will introduce legislative changes aiming at strengthening the capacity of the Department of Environmental Supervision, as well as adopting incentive mechanisms for the staff-was mentioned by the Minister.