Roundtable on Sustainable Use of Wildlife Resources in Georgia
30 April 2012 | News story
0 Comments
| Write a comment
On 24 April 2012 the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Georgia hosted a roundtable discussion on the sustainable use of wildlife resources in Georgia. The meeting was organized by the IUCN Caucasus Cooperation Center.
A wide range of stakeholders, the Ministry of Environment Protection, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development among others, as well as national NGOs, national and international experts, international organizations, and a private sector representative attended the roundtable discussion.
The IUCN Species Survival Commission expert, David Mallon, and the IUCN CCC Officer-in-Charge, Anja Wittich led the roundtable. Mr. Mallon provided input on the principles of sustainable use of wild living resources, outlining IUCN’s sustainable use policy. To showcase best practice, the expert illustrated cases from different countries, such as Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Tadjikistan. The cases presented involved both national level policy approaches and specific programmes, for example on trophy hunting.
Following the expert’s input, the participants discussed how the concept of sustainable use of wildlife resources could be applied to the Georgian context. The discussion centered on the current situation regarding the recent amendments introduced to the Georgian hunting legislation. National NGO and university representatives suggested to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources to create working groups consisting of stakeholders to support the process of developing and implementing sub-laws. Representatives of both national and international organizations expressed their readiness to support the government in facilitating the process of knowledge transfer and capacity building.
“All of us are following the same goal which is to live in a safe, comfortable environment. To this end public involvement is important. The Ministry view sometimes does not coincide with the views of different stakeholders. But we heard your suggestions and will take them into consideration”, the Deputy of the Natural Resources Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Giorgi Tatishvili, said at the end of the meeting.
-
Ktsia-Tabatskuri Managed Reserve, Georgia
Photo: IUCN/Tobias Garstecki
Comments
0 Comments