3 Georgian Villages Offered Alternatives to Tree Felling

Three villages located in a national park Georgia’s Black Sea Adjara region will be using biomass briquettes, energy-efficient stoves and solar panels this winter, instead of cutting trees for firewood.

This will reduce tree cutting by 100 cubic meters during the winter period, and by 500 cubic meters in 2018-2019, according Georgian newswire Agenda.ge.

Renewable energy piloting in Machakhela National Park was initiated by the United Nations Development Programme and Global Environment Facility (UNDP), in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia and the Agency of Protected Areas.

The three villages named as participants in the pilot project are Kedkedi, Zeda Chkhutuneti and Kveda Chkhutuneti. A total of 16 households and a public school were provided with firewood alternatives and renewable energy sources, including biomass, energy-efficient stoves and solar panels.

The residents of the villages also received information about alternative methods of heating and solar water heaters.

"The piloting showed that renewable energy proves effective as a substitute for firewood, still used for heating by most rural households in Georgia”, the UNDP Georgia said.

"The project showed that renewable energy proves effective as a substitute for firewood, which is still used for heating by most rural households in Georgia”, the UNDP Georgia said..

The pilot project is part of a wider program aimed at promoting protected areas in Adjara and to assist in the conservation of the region’s forests.

With over $1.3 million dollars in Global Environment Facility funding, the initiative is implemented by UNDP in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia and Agency of Protected Areas.
(News.Az)