2023 Annual Report of the National Forestry Agency to the Parliament of Georgia
The Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Kakha Kakabadze, presented the 2023 activity report of the National Forestry Agency to the Environment Protection and Natural Resources Committee of the Parliament.
"In 2013, with the adoption of the national forestry concept by the Parliament of Georgia, significant progress began in the forestry sector. This document defined the main strategic directions, which became a prerequisite for introducing sustainable forest management in the country. Later, a new forest code was developed and approved in 2020. It can be said that the regulatory legal framework of the forestry sector is in order. Our goal, in the end, is to adopt an ecologically reasonable, economically successful, and socially fair system of forest management", - said the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Kakha Kakabadze.
It should be noted that in order to facilitate the effective enforcement of the new forest code, to facilitate access to wood resources for the population and the private sector, and to develop forestry, 40 "business yards" were organized in almost all regions of the country at the initiative of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture. By the end of 2023, the works of arranging 17 "business yards" will be completed, which will ensure the simplification of the provision of all information and services related to the forest. On the initiative of the National Forestry Agency, it is planned to arrange 15 additional "business yards" by 2024.
"We received complete information about the progress of the forestry sector reform. The new Forest Code, as one of the important guarantors of the Association Agreement's obligation fulfillment, gave us the basis to establish a new legal framework for the management of the forestry sector, taking into account the principles of sustainable forest management. Important steps have been taken in terms of acquiring and rearming technical means. The committee actively cooperates with the National Forestry Agency, for the more effective implementation of forest maintenance and phytosanitary measures", said the Chairman of the Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee, Maya Bitadze.
At the meeting of the committee, it was noted that quantitative and qualitative indicators of forests are evaluated through forest inventory. To date, information is fully updated for more than 700,000 hectares under the agency's management, and ten-year forest management plans have been prepared. In 2023, detailed forest inventory (FMP) fieldwork is being carried out on an area of 100,924 ha to complete the information and develop a long-term measures plan. For the first time in the country, a statistical method is being used to conduct a forest inventory, allowing for the collection and analysis of more comprehensive information about forests. Statistical inventory (FMI) was carried out on an area of 186,000 ha - in the municipalities of Dedoplistskaro, Kvareli, Telavi, Lanchkhuti, and Chokhatauri.
This year, to ensure increased involvement of the public and private sector in forest maintenance and restoration activities, a volunteer platform "Forest Friend" was established. As of today, 969 volunteers are registered. Within the framework of "Forest Friend", a forest planting project has been prepared for the slope surrounding the Jvari Monastery (31.1 ha). The project will be fully implemented with the involvement of the public and the private sector, with both financial and human resources attracted as a result of corporate cooperation in the platform format.
In 2023, the National Forestry Agency completely renovated the special purpose vehicle fleet. 37 units of "pickup" type high-terrain vehicles and 22 units of special purpose equipment were distributed to 9 regional forestry services. For special equipment, 6,068,550 GEL from the state budget, 3,404,800 GEL with the financial support of the German government, and 1,024,800 GEL from UNDP were spent.
It should be noted that the National Forestry Agency has started the activities defined by the project "Supporting the implementation of the forest sector reform in Georgia to reduce the emission of caused by forest degradation greenhouse gases". The project will be implemented in 8 target municipalities over the next 5 years, for which a grant of 33 million euros has been allocated by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a contribution of 10 million euros will be made by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the assistance of the Swiss Confederation is 4 million euros.
