Minister of Environmental protection and agriculture of Georgia meets the representatives of diplomatic corps, international organisations and the non-governmental sector
By Khatia Bzhalava
Tuesday, June 2
The Minister of Environmental protection and agriculture of Georgia, Levan Davitashvili together with the Chairperson of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee, Nino Tsilosani met the representatives of diplomatic corps, international organisations and the non-governmental sector, on June 1st. The Minster discussed current and future legislative reforms in the direction of environmental protection. The meeting was also attended by the ambassador of Czech to Georgia, Petr Mikyska.
The minister paid attention to the new Forest Codex. As Davitashvili stated, the issues of protecting the environment are one of the primary priorities of the government and the act of legislation (The Forest Codex), which was recently approved, is crucial and instills the principles of forest’s sustainable management, which takes forest management to the whole new level. He also mentioned that the government has just adopted normative producer expanded duties, which is also a significant document and creates an opportunity of developing a circular economy- Green economy. In the current year, together with parliament, we will proceed to work on the initiatives and acts of legislations actively, in which the help of donor organisations is very valuable,” said Davitashvili.
At the meeting, the minister also talked about the amendments in the law On Ambient Air Protection and noted that protecting ambient air will be accomplished in compliance with the European principles. He also referred to the matters of waste managing, water resource managing, establishing and enlarging nature reserves and several other environmental protection initiatives and reforms.
The ambassador of Czech to Georgia, Petr Mikyska congratulated Georgians on adopting The Forest Codex and expressed the support for further partnership in the name of his country. As he said, it is notable that according to the mentioned document, close attention will be paid to 3 million hectares of forest, which is a direct provision of a healthy environment for people. He also highlighted the successful cooperation of The Ministry of Environmental protection and the Parliament of Georgia and estimated their joint work as ‘welcoming and exemplary.’
In May, the Parliament renewed the Forest Codex which defines compulsory rules and regulations in terms of taking care of the forest. The main purpose of the legislation is to “maintain and protect the ecosystems and to reasonably use social and economical benefits.”
