Draft Resolution of the National Principles, Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Forest Management of Georgia

The Ministry of Environmental  Protection and Agriculture of Georgia has completed the work on the draft resolution "National Principles, Criteria, and Indicators of Sustainable Forest Management of Georgia".

The document's development began with the approval of the Georgian National Forest Concept by the Georgian Parliament, with funding from the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and the United Nations Development Fund (UNDA), and implementation by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) (UNECE).

Various stakeholders, such as the LEPL Agency of Protected Areas, the LEPL National Forest Agency, non-governmental organizations, and universities, participated in the process of creating the document together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and international experts. As far as possible, the remarks and comments submitted by the working group were reflected in the bill. 

The "National Principles, Criteria, and Indicators of Sustainable Forest Management in Georgia" draft resolution's goals are to ensure that:

* Come to a consensus on what sustainable forest management in Georgia entails; 

* Provide a framework for reporting on forest condition, forest management quality and sustainability;

Criteria at the national level describe the range of forest values and important elements/principles of forest management that can be used to assess forest sustainability;

Indicators help to monitor forest management sustainability trends over time.

Interested parties can send their comments and suggestions on the published project to the following e-mail addresses by February 14, 2022: 

liana.giorgadze@mepa.gov.ge,Papuna.Kapanadze@mepa.gov.ge,Nanakhelkhelauri@gmail.com 

The date, time and place of the public hearing will be specified later.

See Annex - Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management