Meeting of the Coordination Council of the project "Sustainable Forest Management for Rural Development"
In the framework of the project "Sustainable Forest Management for Rural Development", an extended meeting of the Forest Working Group of the Coordination Council between the rural development agencies was held online.
The meeting was opened by Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Yuri Nozadze and CENN Executive Director Nana Janashia. Alexander Karner, Head of the South Caucasus Office of the Austrian Development Agency, addressed the participants.
The project "Sustainable Forest Management for Rural Development" is implemented by CENN with the financial support of the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC).
At the online meeting, Carlo Amirgulashvili, Head of the Biodiversity and Forestry Department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, presented a four-year strategy for the use of non-timber forest products. The Head of the National Forestry Agency, Archil Nikoleishvili, spoke about the tourist-recreational forest areas.
At the meeting, specific initiatives in the field of non-agricultural development of rural development, issues of inter-sectoral and inter-agencies communication and cooperation were discussed.
It should be noted that the Rural Development Strategy of Georgia for 2021-2027 brought together the main sectors for the development of the local economy - the production of primary and agricultural products, non-agricultural areas, forest, and other natural resource management and tourism.
In addition, Georgia has approved the Forest Code, which will introduce some systemic changes from 2021. The Code introduces innovations to facilitate the generation of income for the rural population.
