EU helps Georgia’s Vashlovani Protected Area adapt to climate change

Four thousand hectares of degraded land is being rehabilitated and a 300-hectare long sheep migratory route is being brought back to life thanks to the European Union-funded Clima East Project at Georgia's the Vashlovani Protected Area.

The Clima East project will help 500 families who live in the Vashlovani Protected Area in south-east Georgia who have suffered from the effects of climate change and human intervention.

The EU, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Georgia, aimed to help preserve the natural heritage of the Vashlovani Protected Area. The project should stabilise the effects of climate change. Furthermore, the addition of new watering points created on the sheep migratory route aimed to enable better organisation of sheep movement.

"Clima East assists national governments to mitigate and adapt to climate change by introducing innovative practices of pasture management, which in turn improves the lives of the local residents,” said Alvaro Ortega Aparicio from the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia.

Vashlovani Protected Area. Photo by Agenda.ge

The Project noted that the pastures of the Vashlovani Protected Area had suffered greatly due to climate change and human action. As a result, the structure of the ground vegetation has been destroyed and the population of many rare plants has significantly reduced. The traditional pastures are being degraded by excessive grazing by domestic livestock.

"Modern practices of pasture management can offer Vashlovani a way out. This can include rotational grazing and weather monitoring to allow sheep owners to effectively use natural resources,” said UNDP representative Tornike Phulariani.

A pilot project has been implemented in the area since 2013, focusing on rehabilitating pastures, introducing sustainable land management practices and improving living conditions of the local population.

The Clima East project, which covers the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) East countries and Russia, supports partner countries to be better equipped for greenhouse gas emission reductions and better prepared to deal with the impacts of climate change.