Tbilisi: Kakha Kakabadze, the Deputy Minister of Environment and Agriculture together with representatives of the Central Apparatus of the Ministry and relevant structural units, is on a working visit to Vienna, Austria.
 On this visit, a meeting was held with Maria Patek, Deputy Federal Minister for Forest, Regions and Water Management of Austria’s Agriculture. The parties discussed the business model of Austria’s federal forests, integrated disaster risk management and climate change issues.
 As the Deputy Minister of Environment and Agriculture Kakha Kakabadze noted that the establishment of sustainable forest management is important both for the ecological, economic and social welfare of the country and climate change adaptation And in the process of sherbills. Accordingly, the main task is to manage the forests in the country in accordance with the principles of sustainable forest management and national interests.
 “Austria is one of the most significantt partners of the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia. For many years, the Ministry has had close cooperation with the Austrian Development Agency (ADC), for which the support of the development of rural and forestry in Georgia is a priority.”
 “With the financing of this agency, a number of projects have been implemented and are planned in the future,” said Deputy Minister of Environment and Agriculture Kakha Kakabadze.
 Maria Patek spoke about cooperation between the two countries in the field of environmental protection and agriculture development.
 “Sustainable use of forests is important for climate change and protection of biodiversity. “In this regard, Georgia is one of our important partners,” – said Maria Patek, Deputy Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management of Austria.
 The meeting was attended by Maia Bitadze, the Chairman of the Parliament’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee, Deputy Chairman Khatia Tsilosani, as well as representatives of the Emergency Situations Management Service and the National Security Council.
 During the visit, members of the Georgian delegation visited the Austrian University of Natural Resources and the Living World Sciences (BOKU), the Federal Center for Forest Studies (BFW), the Institute of Natural Hazards and the Karavanken Geological Park Representatives will be met.
 A visit to Austria was planned within the framework of the project “Sustainable forest management for rural development”. The project is implemented by the Caucasus Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations Network (CENN), with financial support of the Austrian Development Agency.Â
