Experts in Tbilisi for international ecology seminar

Ecology experts from all around the globe are in Tbilisi this week evaluating whether Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan can join an international ecology network that works to protect and conserve habitats and species in Europe.

FFor the past three days Georgia’s capital has hosted the first Emerald Biogeographical Seminar for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, where independent experts, Council of Europe envoys, governmental officials, non-governmental organisations and other guests discussed whether the three countries can join the Emerald Network, as well as ways to enhance conservation efforts in the Caucasus region.

A Caucasian Goat in the Lagodekhi Protected Areas region of Georiga. Photo by Miqael Kavtaradze.

The Emerald Network is an ecological network that aims to conserve wild flora and fauna and their natural habitats in Europe. It was launched in 1998 by the Council of Europe (as part of its work under the Bern Convention) to better understand the importance of the natural world and promote sustainable human-nature interaction.

Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have proposed a list of sites they wish to see included in the Emerald Network, and this week experts debated whether these sites fit the specific conservation criteria. But before sites can be officially adopted as Emerald sites, they must be thoroughly assessed whether they achieve the ultimate objective of the Network; long term survival of the species and habitats of the Bern Convention requiring specific protection measures.

Georgia's Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Photo by the Park.

The Bern Convention is a binding international legal instrument in the field of nature conservation, covering most of the natural heritage of the Europe continent and extends to some African states. It is the only regional Convention of its kind worldwide and aims to conserve wild flora and fauna and their natural habitats, as well as to promote European cooperation in this field.

Fifty countries and the 28 EU member states have already signed up to the Convention and committed to promoting national conservation policies.

The May 27-29 seminar was organised in the framework of the Emerald Network of Nature Protection Sites joint EU-Council of Europe programme. The programme aimed to establish the Emerald Network in seven target countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, the European part of the Russian Federation and Ukraine).

The Dotchu village in Georgia's Tusheti district. 

Meanwhile the Tbilisi seminar was chaired by vice chairperson of the Bern Convention Standing Committee Jan Plesnik. Independent experts who specialise in different areas of ecology were invited to attend the seminar and provide their opinion on the proposed sites and mediate if there were disagreements during the seminar.

It was obligatory for Georgia to increase its conservation efforts and hold the regional seminar, as stipulated in the Association Agreement, which the country signed with the EU last June.

The European Council stated species of wild plants and animals, including their habitats, played a vital role in ensuring ecological balance, for humans and the environment. However, today 15 percent of Europe's mammals or 13 percent of birds’ species were threatened with extinction.