Samukhri Protected Area to be Formed Between Vashlovani and Azerbaijan-Georgia border

A protected area will be established in the extreme south-eastern part of Georgia, between the Vashlovani Protected Areas and the Azerbaijan-Georgia state border.

This is envisaged by the draft law "On the Creation and Management of the Nugzar Zazanashvili Multi-Use Area, " approved at a government session yesterday.

With the direct involvement of Nugzar Zazanashvili, many protected areas have been created in the country; Under his supervision, the gazelle restoration project has been actively underway in the Samukhi Valley since 2013.

Gazelles became utterly extinct in Georgia in 1990. In 2013, at the initiative of the Government of Georgia, with the financial assistance of the German Government, the WWF, the Agency for Protected Areas, and many other governmental and non-governmental organizations, a restoration project of this species was launched.

Today, about 200 gazelles live in and around the Samukhi Valley. The eighth generation of Likliks was born this year. Reintroduction (return/restoration of gazelles species) from Azerbaijan is considered to be the most successful conservation and restoration project in Georgia.

The creation of a protected area will contribute to the long-term survival of the Kurtsika population in this region, the protection of biodiversity, the development of ecotourism, and the sustainable use of traditional sheep-breeding and pastures.