Georgia's Protected Areas Expanding - Erusheti National Park to be Created

According to Gakharia, Erusheti National Park will be created at the decision of the Government. Located in a border zone, the park will be vitally important in terms of both bolstering trans-border cooperation and protecting Red List species.

"Another important decision we are taking today concerns protected areas. As you know, the area of Georgia's protected territories expanded by about 10% in 2019 to make 9.6% of the country's territory, a maximal indicator so far. But the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection plans to expand our protected areas by additional 100,000 hectares," Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated at today's Government meeting.

"This decision enables us to create an important area where we will promote environmental protection," Giorgi Gakharia emphasized.

During today's Government meeting, the Head of Government also announced the expansion of Borjomi-Kharagauli Protected Areas by 4,000 hectares.

"Borjomi-Kharagauli Protected Areas will expand by 4,000 hectares, which means that this unique territory in Georgia will be even more effective in preserving diverse species. In particular, we are talking about putting in place corridors for the Caucasian red deer and chamois, corridors leading toward the western ranges of the Lesser Caucasus. And that is crucially important for preserving Red List species," the Prime Minister said.