Asia

Main reasons of deforestation and degradation of
forests in Georgia
By Alexander Urushadze

Forest has always occupied a special place in Georgia Flora. Georgia has long been known for her rich forest resources, numbers of valuable species, favourable soil and climatic conditions for the groth and development of a plant.

Philosophers and historians of the remote past, such as Herodot, Hypocradt, Ksenophont, Strabon and others often mentioned impenetrable forests of Colchis, where valuable species of wood grew.

Forests are the most important among all types of Georgian plant cover and all categories of natural resources. Besides their well-known advantages, forests play a special role in the life of the country. Wood is the only raw material in furniture and cellulose-paper production. All Georgian furniture manufacturers use only local raw materials. Forests play a great role in fuel balance of the country. Its importance as fuel has especially grown up in recent years for the volume of provision with gas and oil has sharply decreased. There are a lot of nutritious species of high quality. They are chestnut, filbert, blackberry, cornel, medlar and others. Pastures and haymaking of forest areas are of great importance. Forest flower plants are important for the development of bee-keeping. Many of the plants are used for making medicines as well as for technical purposes.

Georgian forests are wonderful homes for birds and animals. Forests surround a number of world-known Georgian resorts such as Borjomi, Bakuriani, Bakhmaro, Tskhaltubo and so on.

Being an important stabilizer of biosphere, Georgian forests play an exceptionally important protecting role – water protecting, soil protecting and so on. This is conditioned by the fact that 95 % of Georgian forests are mountainous and are situated on the slopes of different steepness and on different heights above sea-level. Steadiness of agricultural lands and safety of the population living in mountains higly depend on the condition of mountainous forests.

Forest is one of the most important landscape components of Georgia.

According to the data from January 1 1996 whole forest area makes 2 988 thousand ha, including 2 752 thousand ha covered with forest. Woods make 39,8 % while reserve of forests make 434,O mln m3.

Coniferous species (fir, spruce, pine, juniper) occupy 19,0 %, while hard wood foliage species (beech, oak-tree, hornbeam, acacia, maple, elm, ash) occupy 66,6 %.

Middle-aged forests prevail over other Georgian forests, they occupy 47,5 %, while their reserves occupy – 37,3 %. Next are mature forests with 21,9 % of the area and 30,0 % of reserves.

Prevalence of the forests with thickness of 0,5 is noticeable, then are forests with thickness 0,6 and 0,3-0,4.

In Georgia forests of 111 bonitet are generally spread.

Georgia is distinguished by biodiversity of dendroflora. 395 species of wood naturally grow on the territory of the country. They are united in 123 botanic sorts and 56 families. 182 forms and 91 variations of these species are also observed here. Whole nubber of taxons of Georgian wood is 519, while in the forests of the USA 865 species, 61 varieties and 101 hybrids forms.

Georgian wood is divided into trees (153 species),shrubs (202 species),subshrubs (29 species) and lianas (11 species).

Index of great originality of Georgian dendroflora is high percentage (26 %) of endemic species (61 Georgian endemic species and 43 Caucasian species).

In Georgia more than 6000 species of wood are introduced and tested, 3000 of them are preserved in botanical gardens and in populated areas, while in the Ukraine only 1500 species are introduced, in Azerbayjan – 800 and in Armenia – 441 species.

Whole territory of Georgia make 6 950 thousand ha, the population is 5 443 thousand. Urban population makes 3 036 thousand (55,8 %), while rural population is 2 407 thousand (44,2 %), 1 280 thousand people (23,5 %) live in the capital of the country – in Tbilisi.

There are two autonomous republics and one autonomous region in Georgia, there are also 69 areas, 61 towns, densitiy of the population per 100 ha is 78,3. 0,15 ha of arable land, 0,51 ha of forest and 77 m3 of forest reserve fall on per person of the country.

Forests have always played a special role in the life of the country. It is a well-known fact that in the X11 century at court there was a special post of Main Forester, who used to protect and take care of the woods of special purpose .Foreign Invadors of Georgia such as the Mongols, the Arabians, the Persians, the Turks used to exterminate the population and destroy not only cultural monuments but Georgian forests as well. In the Hordes of Tamburlain, Shah Abass and others many warriors used to keep axes in order to destroy the woods of strategic purposes.

Famous work "Description of Georgian Kingdom" by a well-known Geographer Vakhushti Bagrationi , gives us a detailed description of Georgian nature in the beginning of the XV111 century. On the basis of this historic exploration and contemporary materials as well, we have made a map showing the spreading of woods on the territory of Georgia in the beginning of the XV111 and the end of the XX century.

The scale of the map is 1 : 2 000 000. The map vividly shows that the forest area has noticeably reduced for the last 2,5 centuries.Forest reduction mostly fell on bottom lands and lowlands.

Thus, the main reason of deforestation of the territory is of a historic charachter. Since the 20s of the XX century the process of deforestation has been suspended and what is more, goverment bodies of Forest Management have taken active measures to cultivate wood plants. As it is seen, from 1926 to 1990 wood plants were cultivated on 268 299 ha, 220193 ha of the whole belong to government Forest Fund while 48 106 ha falls on eroded land. It is worth mentioning that in 1971-1975 wood plants were cultivated on 10 348 ha annually.Among wood plants preference is given to pine-tree and ash as mostly unpretentious species to the factors of the environment.

The threat of the recommencement of the deforestation process has sharply increased in recent years.In the conditions of power crisis the population has started cutting the wood around the populated areas as well as in the parks and gardens.

Table 1. Volume of illegal cutting – m3 in 1990-1996 yy.

The volume of illegal cuttings has reached its highest level, 44238 m3 in 1996. In 1995-96 calculated wood cutting for major purposes made 200 000 m3 ( 94 000 m3 cutting for business and 106 000 m3 firewood) while controlled care cutting reached 300 000 m3.

This negative process coincided with the reduction of forest regeneration activities. For example, in 1990-1997 the volume of regeneration activities reduced in 30-40 times in comparision with the 70s and 80s.

Thus,after the break-down of the Soviet Union and during the period of power crisis (which mostly deterioriated living conditions of refugees and socially unprotected stratum of the society) forest degradation grew up. The measures taken by government bodies and nongovernmental organs in order to prevent this process is obviously insufficient.

Forest degradation is reflected in negative change of such indices as correlation of age groups, reduction of forest areas from highly productive forest species, reduction of thickness and others.

The processes of forest degradation is favoured by continuos export of timber to foreign countries. One of the reasons of undesirable tendencies in forestry is weak ecological protection.

Ecologycal education needs serious improvement.

Planning sanitary catches isn’t admitable at the same time production of wood made 60 %. Many violations were observed in volunteer choice catches.

Georgian Parliament hasn’t passed the main laws of forestry yet.

Responsibility for forest devastation hasn’t been mentioned in the Criminal Code yet. So far, there are no real costs on wood that helps the speculation.

Facts of illegal catches can be observed in the reservates.

Environmental organs are very week in regions which depend on law material technical base, non activity and indiferences.

We don’t have unique anticrisis energetical program so far.

Decission of the problems of deforestation and degradation of wood is possible through the process taking into consideration proposals on different levels.

On the global level it’s necessary to adopt unique chart of forest saving. It includes the moratorium of forest catching, organization of external observer institute, etc. Unique chart is necessary because future of the world depends on the condition of forests.

On regional level it’s necessary to organize transcaucausian public movement which will control the conditions and exploitation of forests. This movement should include officials and non-govermental organizations of forestry and environment.

On national level preparation of energetical anti-crisis program. This program should utilize energetic resources and the interests of socially non-protected spheres of population.

Passing the Law of forest. This law should include all aspects of forest life and its regulation.

Making the control of wood export stricter. Unfortunatelly Georgian timber is exported from Georgia to foreign countries is very cheap.The firms which are engaged in producing timber and its sale do not express even the slightest interest towards the condition of Georgian forests. So forest exploitation receives depredatory character. It is important to organize timber processing locally (in order to raise the prices of the production). It is also necessary to strengthen the control over the condition of Georgian forest while exploiting it.

Elaboration of some measures for improvement activities of nature-protecting organization in regions.

• Making ecological propaganda more powerful.
• Putting in order main catching system.
• Preparation of unique ecological program of education.
• Making Criminal Code more potent.
• Making economical mechanism of protection and caring of forest perfect.
• Improvement of reservat regimes.

On local level activation of the the activities of nature-protecting organs.

• Struggling with poachers.
• Making ecological program more potent.

Except govermental organizations these measures would be supported by non-govermantal organizations –Georgian Soil Science Society,Georgian Botanical Society, Georgian Geological Society, etc.

Nobody would be against them, but private structures involved in forest business should be against in secret.

Social-economical and ecological results of such activities are very important, because forest maintenance will help to maintain equilibriun in biosphere, whats extremely important for such a mountaineous country as Georgia.

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