The Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee discussed the legal initiative of three NGOs in terms of amending Article 13 of the Forest Code. The legal initiative by the Human Rights Center, CENN and the Greens Movement of Georgia – Friends of the Earth envisages the revision of the forest fund borders in terms of recreational investments.
Under the current Code, in the case of investments for recreational purposes, the correction of the forest fund borders is admissible, which is not shared by the authors of the initiative. Their initiative envisages the restriction of the possibility of border correction.
The Committee Chair, Maia Bitadze, noted that the forest fund borders are not currently de-marked and “that’s why, under the changes to the Code introduced in 2020, the investment proposals for recreational purposes allow the correction of the forest fund borders in the manner to maintain 70% of the landscape. Simultaneously, within the Governmental Resolution, based on consultations, we reached a consensus with NGOs after a year’s observation, revised the rationality of Article 13 and, until we are informed about precise borders and the complete inventory of the forest fund, the borders cannot be corrected, especially for recreational purposes,” stated Ms. Bitadze.
The parties agreed to ensure a 1-year monitoring timeframe to assess the real picture.
The Committee discussed the Draft on the establishment of two new Protected Areas with the III reading, introduced by the Deputy Environmental Minister, Nino Tandilashvili; the Draft Law on Creation and Management of Nugzar Zazanashvili Samukhi Multilateral Use Area, and the Draft Law on Creation and Management of Racha Protected Areas are introduced for the II reading with minor editorial changes.
The Committee approved the Drafts.