Otar Shamugia, the Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia visited Kolkheti National Park. During his visit the minister was also accompanied by members of the media.
The minister, during his visit, said, “The development of protected areas is one of the areas where we have visible progress. Every year we establish new protected areas over the past ten years, more than 30 new protected areas have been created in the country. Today we already have 100 protected areas.
This year a new national park was established in Guria, we are actively working on expanding the existing protected area in Racha creating a protected area in Samegrelo and Upper Svaneti.”
He further added that first of all this is very important for the protection of our unique nature for the preservation of biodiversity. At the same time our protected areas have a great potential for ecotourism and we are actively working to use this potential properly.
In recent years more than 200 million GEL has been invested in the development of infrastructure both by the private sector and by the state. The number of visitors to our protected areas is increasing every year.
The income of both the Agency of Protected Areas and most importantly of the local population involved in developing tourism services is increasing. This is one of the very good opportunities for communities to engage in the service to earn income.
We have many such examples. Our policy serves this very purpose to protect our nature take care of it and at the same time attract more visitors which creates an opportunity for even more economic development in the region, the Minister added.
As per the minister within the framework of the media tour, the participants received information about the two-month campaign, which the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture is implementing to promote the country’s tourism potential.
As part of the campaign banners and information materials with the messages “Discover the nature of Georgia” and “Georgia is the homeland of wine” are placed in Georgian airports. Arriving guests, upon entering the country, receive information about the unique nature of Georgia and Georgian wine at the border.
