ეროვნული სატყეო სააგენტო National Forestry Agency სსიპ ეროვნული სატყეო სააგენტო
LEPL National Forestry Agency

On the initiative of the National Forestry Agency, a cleaning action was held in the territory of the state forest in Borjomi. Borjomi Plateau is a busy tourist area. Along with the head of the National Forestry Agency, Kakha Tsertsvadze, well-known faces - actors, sportsmen, civil activists and journalists - took part in the action. The event aims to actively involve the community in the fight for the preservation and improvement of the environment."The tourist season is in an active phase, which is accompanied by high temperatures. Community responsibility is important when organizing picnic and camping sites. Any negligence can lead to forest fires. The well-known faces once again called on the population to be careful when moving in the forest and not to leave waste in nature" - said the head of the National Forestry Agency, Kakha Tsertsvadze.

Illegal Sawmill in Kakheti

Employees of the Kakheti Forest Service discovered an unregistered sawmill in Omalo village of Akhmeta municipality.The offender had installed an illegal sawmill in his homestead. A total of 15 cubic meters of illegally obtained beech timber and primary processing product - planks were found on the territory of the workshop. The sawmill has been sealed and, together with the illegally harvested timber, has been moved to the business yard of Zemo Khodasheni."Employees of the National Forestry Agency and the Department of Environmental Supervision carry out joint measures continuously in order to detect and prevent violations of the law. The fact revealed in the village of Omalo contains signs of a criminal offense; The materials have been forwarded to the relevant agency for further response," said Kakha Tsertsvadze, head of the National Forestry Agency.

The employees of Samtskhe-Javakheti Forestry Service revealed the fact of illegal harvesting and transportation of wood in the state forest in Tsaghveri.A local resident illegally obtained up to 6 cubic meters of coniferous timber. An administrative protocol was drawn up against the offender. The off-road vehicle was sealed, and the illegally obtained firewood was transferred to the "business yard" of Tsagveri."In order to prevent violations of the law, photo traps are placed on the entire perimeter of the state forest under the management of the National Forestry Agency. It is important that employees of the forestry service also monitor with the help of drones, which is an effective way of detecting the illegal use of natural resources", said the head of the National Forestry Agency, Kakha Tsertsvadze.

6 month report of regional forestry services

Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Kakha Kakabadze met with the heads of regional forestry services and listened to the report of the 6 months of works performed.The National Forestry Agency is the primary organization responsible for managing forests in the country, whose priority directions are forest restoration, improvement of the sanitary condition of forests, forest inventory and preparation of management plans. The mentioned forestry measures are carried out by the employees of 9 regional forestry services together with the representatives of the branch departments.In order to facilitate the effective enforcement of the new Forest Code of law, simplify the access to timber resources of the population and the private sector, and develop forestry, 55 "business yards" have been established in the regions of Georgia, and 16 "business yards" will be organized by the end of 2024.As a result of the forest inventory works, the information has been completely updated for the area of more than 700 thousand ha under the management of the agency, and ten-year forest management plans have been prepared. Currently, forest registration works are being carried out in 6 different municipalities of 4 regions of Georgia (Kvareli, Telavi, Tianeti, Oni, Tsageri, Ozurgeti) on a total area of 265,843 ha, after which forest management plans will be developed for the next 10 years. The agency has developed a targeted three-month program for training qualified young staff for forest inventory work. In 2019-2024, 62 young people with forestry education were trained and employed in forest inventory work.A long-term forest restoration plan was prepared by the National Forestry Agency, until 2030, forest restoration works will be carried out on an area of 20,000 ha. Until the end of 2024, forest restoration measures will be implemented on an area of 2286 ha in Imereti, Shida Kartli, Kvemo Kartli, Guria, Racha-Lechkhumi Kvemo Svaneti and Kakheti.As for the offence statistics, from January to June 2024, a total of 436 facts of illegal harvesting and transportation of timber across the country were detected by the employees of the National Forestry Agency; The volume of resources stored in "business yards" amounted to 355.91 cubic meters.It is important that photo traps are placed on the entire perimeter of the state forest under the management of the National Forestry Agency. The employees of the National Forestry Agency use drones to patrol, which is an effective way of detecting illegal use of natural resources.