Foresting licenses will no longer be issued in Georgia
Foresting licenses will no longer be issued in Georgia per the country’s new Forest Code. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Foresting licenses will no longer be issued in Georgia per the country’s new Forest Code, said head of the Department of Biodiversity and Forest Policy of Georgia’s Ministry of Environment and Agriculture Karlo Amirgulashvili.
License holders were earlier allowed to use a specific territory of the forest to fell trees and sell wood.
Licence holders had right to use the license for the purpose of forest protection and commercial purposes as well. However, there were more cases of cutting trees rather then restoring forests.
Amirgulashvili said that each license holder caused losses of over 2 million GEL (about $0.75m/€0.66m) to the environment.
He also said that since 2012, forest licenses have not been issued anymore.
The amendments will not apply to already issued licenses, said Amirgulashvili.
The licensing has not brought positive results for the budget as well as for the forests, the environmental condition of which is very damaged. In 2006-2010 about 70 multi-year licenses were issued … of which about 38 are valid”, said Amirgulashvili.
He said that within the new Forest Code forests will gradually be restored in Georgia.
The government has already sent the revised Forest Code to the parliament for discussions and confirmation.
Georgia is tightening sanctions against illegal tree felling to reduce damage to forests and encourage the sustainable development of forests in the country.
We are starting an uncompromising battle against the illegal usage of forests, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said at today’s cabinet meeting. Kvirikashvili said the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture is working on important changes regulating and strengthening laws that concern forests and their utilization as natural resources.
A new programme will be launched in 2019 to co-finance a new enterprise that will process forest waste, announces Georgia’s Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture.
The import of timber will be exempt from value-added tax (VAT) in Georgia in order to prevent illegal tree felling in the country, Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has announced.
Georgia is starting the restoration and development of Krtsanisi forest park as part of the new state programme for biodiversity recovery launched today.
Georgia has developed a new forest and land use atlas in cooperation between the Environment Ministry and Global Forest Watch project. During a presentation of the map today, Georgian Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture Levan Davitashvili said the atlas makes information on environmental protection more available than it was earlier.
251 cases of illegal logging and timber transportation were recorded in between July 1-31, the Environmental Supervision Department reports.
The State Sub-Agency Department of Environmental Supervision has registered 3,573 cases of illegal logging and transportation of timber in 2019.
The State Sub-Agency Department of Environmental Supervision has registered 309 cases of illegal logging and transportation of timber throughout Georgia in January 2020.
The Georgian parliament has approved the draft amendments to the Forest Code with its third reading which allows Georgian Patriarchate to gain ownership of forest areas of 20 ha adjacent to orthodox churches and monasteries throughout the country.
The government of Georgia has adopted a new rule on forest use that establishes a legal framework for sustainable forest management and use, while improving, protecting and preserving forest resources, announces the Ministry of Environment Protection of Georgia.