The FINANCIAL — The EU-funded Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Programme (FLEG II) is supporting forest restoration works in the Ajara region of Georgia, which suffers from overgrazing.
With the help of WWF-Caucasus, the Forestry Agency of Ajara (FAA) will protect of about 100 ha of degraded forest from cattle grazing, according to EU Neighbourhood Info Centre.
FLEG Country Coordinator Ilia Osepashvili recently visited the potential forest restoration site together with two local rangers and conducted meetings with residents of the village of Bodzauri, aiming to agree on the key aspects of forest restoration planned by FLEG near the village.
Locals have voiced strong support for the idea: “We strongly support forest restoration activity near our village; there was a good natural forest here in the past; we want this forest to be restored and will support WWF in these efforts,” said one elderly villager, Shio Shantadze.
The €9 million ENPI FLEG II programme deepens reforms in forestry policy, and legal and administrative matters in the sector while carrying out pilot projects, and addressing forest fire and climate issues. It builds upon the achievements of its predecessor, ENPI FLEG I programme.
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