Agriculture Minister - studies underway to create protected area in western Racha region
In his comments, the Minister said it had requested a management plan for the area from the company HG Capra Caucasica in May but the submission of the document had been failed, leading to the new plans for establishing a protected area in the forested zone in question. Photo: Georgian Agriculture Ministry
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Georgian Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia on Monday revealed studies were ongoing for creating a new protected natural area in western Georgia’s Racha region, following a citizen protest on Saturday over an alleged sale of a forest area in the locality.
The public protest was held outside the Environmental Protection Ministry, before the body explained it had given out a licence for establishment of a hunting farm in the forest, with more than ₾5 million (about $1.8) allocated for its development and employment of locals within the project.
In his comments, the Minister said it had requested a management plan for the area from the company HG Capra Caucasica in May but the submission of the document had been failed, leading to the new plans for establishing a protected area in the forested zone in question.
He added the project would be “most adapted” to the needs of locals and aimed at protecting the “distinctive nature” of the locality with the involvement of the local government, citizens and relevant experts.
The Ministry on Saturday said reselling or gifting of licences was not possible without an agreement with the National Environment Agency and added there had been no such request made to the body.
Nino Tandilashvili, the Georgian Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, has been elected as a member of the Governing Board of the United Nations-initiated Green Climate Fund, the Ministry announced on Tuesday.
Georgia's Environmental Protection Ministry on Saturday issued a statement, rejecting misinformation over selling the forest in western Georgia’s Racha region, and noting there was “no reason to hold protests” over the matter after citizens held a rally outside the Ministry yesterday.
The Georgian capital city of Tbilisi on Thursday hosted the Conference on Georgia’s Road to the European Union, organised by the Parliament of Georgia and the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum’s Georgian National Platform.
Illegal forest felling, waste management violations and breaches of laws on minerals were among environmental infringements identified by state supervision across Georgia over the past year, the Environmental Protection Ministry said on Friday.
Otar Shamugia, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, on Tuesday said the involvement of local self-government and locals in expanding protected areas in the western region of Racha was of “particular importance”.