On November 13, 2017, the Government of Georgia (GoG) announced a major reshuffle, where several ministries were merged to strive towards more sustainable and decentralized administration, including improved forest management. Under the reshuffle process, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection (MoENPR) was divided, with its natural resource management component being transferred to the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development (MoESD) and the environmental component being merged with the Ministry of Agriculture. The latter was named the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia (MEPA).
The MEPA is initiating the modernization process of the National Forestry Agency (NFA). According to the current vision of the MEPA, multi-purpose forest use is the vital step in the process of practising sustainable forest management based on the national -forest Concept (NFC). Therefore, the renewed institutional model of the forest sector govern-ance should address the challenges in the forestry sector and the country. The topics to be reflected in the institutional model include stimulating recreational use of forest re-sources and increasing the role of forests in rural development, which on its turn will decrease social pressure on forests (using forest resources as energy sources in rural areas) and will generate income at local and central levels and will contribute to the development of rural areas. Additionally, the new institutional model shall consider creation of mechanisms for strengthening environmental functions of MEPAs and introduction of Sustainable Forest Management Principles, gradual elimination of “social cutting” practices, engaging NFA in watershed management and disaster risk reduction (DRR) in forest lands, sustainable management of non-forest resources, biomass utilization, forest fire prevention, and so forth.
CENN_ADA SFG II_Institutional Reccomendations_180709_ENG