International Summit of Protected Territories opens in Georgia

The first International Summit of Protected Territories was opened in Georgia with the participation of about 20 countries around the world. It was organized by the Agency of Protected Areas of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture. The Event will be held on November 7-9, 2023 in Borjomi.

The event is attended by more than 100 delegates from 20 countries.

The Borjomi Summit is the first precedent in the history of Georgian Protected Areas, where, together with representatives of the world’s leading national parks or international environmental organizations. It will be possible to get acquainted with, discuss and share experience of internationally recognized, successful management practices of national parks.

The First International Summit of Protected Territories was opened by Deputy Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture Yuri Nozadze. The event is attended by Khatia Tsilosani, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Environment Protection and Natural Resources of the Parliament of Georgia, representatives of international and local environmental organizations and diplomatic corps.

The program of the event includes panel discussions, thematic seminars and presentations. International speakers from the US, UK, Romania, Macedonia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Turkey, Iran, North Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and the Republic of Korea will discuss important issues such as international models for biodiversity conservation, modern technologies and systems in national parks, and Ways to promote sustainable development of co-tourism.

As part of the summit, special sessions will also be held – the “World Café Method”, which aims to study in-depth key issues and challenges in the development of national parks. Issues of protection and enforcement of national parks, sustainable tourism development, financial sustainability, systems and technology, biodiversity restoration will be discussed.

The event is organized with the support of the Global Conservation Foundation. The event is co-funded by Caucasian Nature Fund, Bank of Georgia, Global Environment Fund (GEF), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Succow Stiftung, USAID Economic Security Program and SABUKO.