A grant agreement has been signed between the Agency for Protected Areas of the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture and the German Development and Reconstruction Bank (KfW).
Under the agreement, the Agency of Protected Areas will receive a grant of € 16,250 million for creating and developing new protected areas over the next six years.
The agreement between the Agency for Protected Areas and the German Development and Reconstruction Bank (KfW) also provides for the improvement of management efficiency and biodiversity monitoring, conservation, staff training, and ecotourism development.
The new grant agreement was signed by David Iosebashvili, Chairman of the Agency for Protected Areas, and Frank Morschel, Manager of the Environmental Portfolio of the German Development and Reconstruction Bank (KfW) in Georgia. The signing ceremony was attended by the Minister of Environment and Agriculture, Otar Shamugia.
“Caring for the environment is one of our government’s top priorities; We are taking important measures in this direction. We have increased the area of ​​protected areas by about 300,000 hectares. This year we plan to establish new protected areas and increase the existing ones by 100,000 hectares. The establishment of new protected areas needs funding to provide ecotourism infrastructure and visitor centres and equip our rangers with appropriate equipment; Therefore, obtaining adequate financial support is extremely important. The German government has been supporting us for years in terms of developing protected areas. We also have an ongoing project; Today, we have signed a new grant agreement, which will be used for the development of protected areas. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Government of Germany and the German Bank for Reconstruction and Development for their support,” said the Minister of Environment and Agriculture.
The Agency of Protected Areas of the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture has many years of successful cooperation with the Federal Republic of Germany, with the financial support of which many initiatives have been launched.
The new grant agreement between the Governments of Georgia and the Federal Republic of Germany, “Biodiversity and Sustainable Local Development in Georgia”, provides grant support of up to 24 million euros, from which, over the next six years, the Agency of Protected Areas will receive € 16,250 million to support the creation and expansion of protected areas; The grant agreement signed between the governments envisages strengthening the capacities of the forestry sector of Adjara.
