At today’s sitting, the Government of Georgia approved the draft law on the creation and management of the Nugzar Zazanashvili Samukhi Multipurpose Use Area prepared by the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture.
According to the draft law “On the Establishment and Management of the Nugzar Zazanashvili Samukh Multipurpose Use Area”, it is envisaged to establish a category of Samukh Multipurpose Use Area in the extreme south-eastern part of Georgia, between the Vashlovani Protected Areas and the Azerbaijan-Georgia state border.
This will be the first named protected area in Georgia, which immortalizes the name of Georgian scientist, famous environmentalist and poet Nugzar Zazanashvili. With the direct involvement of Nugzar Zazanashvili, many protected areas were created in the country; Under his supervision, the Kurtsik (Jeirani) restoration project has been actively underway in the Samukh Valley since 2013.
In Georgia, in 1990, Kurtsik became completely extinct. In 2013, at the initiative of the Government of Georgia, with the financial assistance of the German Government, the WWF, the Agency for Protected Areas and many other governmental and non-governmental organizations, a restoration project of this species was launched.
Today, about 200 kurtsiks live in and around Samukhi Valley. This year the eighth generation of Lycans was born. The reintroduction of Kurtsik from Azerbaijan (return/restoration of the species) is considered to be the most successful conservation and restoration project in Georgia.
The creation of a protected area will contribute to the long-term survival of the Kurtsika population in this region, the protection of biodiversity, the development of ecotourism and the sustainable use of traditional sheep-breeding and pastures.
