Georgia: The employees of the Environmental Supervision Department of the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture, from October 01 to October 31, 2025, identified 155 facts of illegal forest use.
Of the revealed facts, 111 are related to illegal acquisition-transportation of trees, 44 are related to violation of technical regulations by saw mills and illegal saw mills. 12 of the offenses contain criminal offenses; materials were sent to the appropriate authorities for further response.
Protecting natural resources and preventing, identifying, and exposing facts about illegal use of forests is a priority for the department.
Crews of the Environmental Supervision Department are patrolling all over the country for 24 hours; they respond immediately to every message received on the Ministry’s hotline (153).
As a result, in October this year, several violations of the law were reported in different regions. The most – 34 facts were recorded in Kakheti, 29 violations were reported in Imereti, in Adjara – 23, in Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti – 13, in Guria – 11, in Racha-Lechkhumi-Lower Svaneti-10, in Samtskhe-Javakheti-10, in Shida Kartli-10, in Mtskheta-Mtianeti-9, in Lower Kartli-6.
In total, 185 cubic meters of illegally extracted trees have been removed. At the same time, 2 units of unregistered saws have been sealed throughout the country.
Regarding the statistics of the current year, in ten months, department employees revealed 1380 cases of illegal forest use across the country. 54 illegal mining saws have been sealed.
In the framework of the fight against illegal forest use, the department actively uses modern technologies, and the sanctions are tightened. As a result of all these actions, in recent years, there has been a decrease in the frequency of illegal forest use.
