Otar Shamugia, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, on Monday said a new national park in the country’s western Guria region would be developed on an area comprising 15,000 hectares.
He added a majority of the area of the Guria National Park - 13,000 hectares - would be formed from territories in the Chokhatauri Municipality, with the remaining 2,000 hectares found in the Ozurgeti Municipality.
Shamugia said the creation of the Park would safeguard biodiversity and ecosystems of local forests and contribute to improvement of social and economic conditions of locals.
"The development of protected areas is one of the priorities for us. During the last 10 years, we have doubled the area of protected areas”, he said.
The Minister added studies in the municipalities had assessed their “unique” natural resources and ecosystems, as well as the potential for tourist development of the project.
Forested areas in Guria are recognised for environmental importance through their inclusion in the WWF’s Ecoregional Conservation Plan for the Caucasus, and are also considered a key biodiversity area of the region.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection earlier this month said final boundaries had already been marked for the creation of the Park.
The Ministry also announced work on a biological diversity bill, to create a legal basis for the establishment of an “effective” nature conservation and management system, was also completed. The bill aims to approximate domestic legislation with the European nature protection policy.
The Ministry noted out of the 27 environmental regulations stipulated by the Association Agreement signed with the European Union in 2014, legislative approximation had been implemented on 20, with “active work” underway on the remaining seven.
Created with the support of the German Society for International Cooperation, the main part of the bill is planned to be implemented from January 1, 2026, while certain elements will enter into force between 2027-2029.
