News 

On March 22, 2010, on the occasion of the international World Water Day, the final draft Integrated Coastal Zone Management Strategy for Georgia, addressing all suggested comments expressed during intergovernmental consultations (prepared with support of the EuropeAid funded international technical assistance project Environmental Collaboration for the Black Sea ECBSea), was submitted to the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia for further approval processing.

The Minister has initiated the interagency consultation process earlier, on October 15, 2009, by disclosing the draft document Georgia for review and suggestions of the various concerned central ministries and agencies, autonomous republics, regional and local self-governance authorities located along the Black Sea coast of Georgia, with the intention of the approval of the document with the Ordinance of the Government of Georgia.

The Final Draft of the Ordinance of the Government of Georgia, together with the attached ICZM Strategy for Georgia and the Explanatory Note, taking account of suggested comments from various agencies, is available publicly hereby for download.

On 10th of March, 2010, a round table discussion meeting was held at the Aarhus Centre in Georgia, to review the quality of EIA-s for projects planned in the coastal areas of Georgia. ICZM Focal Point for Georgia presented the analysis of EIA-s published for the "Adjara Bypass Road Project" (Asian Development Bank), "Batumi International Airport Exploitation Project" (Tav-URBAN Georgia) and "R. Supsa Mouth Sea Port Construction and Operation Project" ("Black Sea Product"). Presentation in Georgian language is accessible publicly for download. Discussions were held after the presentation on measures proposed towards the improvement of the current situation.

Representatives of the non-governmetal organizations Green Alternative, Greens Movement of Georgia, CENN, ICFER, Project Expertise Centre, Aarhus Centre in Georgia, the consulting companies AquaMedia, Eng-Consult and Boskalis International BV, as well as Sarke Information Agency participated in the meeting and discussions. Representatives of the "Batumi International Airport Exploitation Project" and "R. Supsa Mouth Sea Port Construction and Operation Project" did not appear at the meeting. Those interested in receiving the minutes of the meeting via e-mail should refer in writing to the following contacts.

Planning meeting was convened on 7-8th of January 2010 at the Permanent Secretariat of the Black Sea Commission (PSBSC), Istanbul, Turkey, with participation of the Project Manager and Scientific Coordinator of this forthcoming EC supported FP7 project People for Ecosystem-based Governance in Assessing Sustainable Development of Ocean and Coast - PEGASO.

The purpose of the meeting was to define specific inputs of the PSBSC as the Partner and the Beneficiary of this multi-year project aiming at strengthening the governance framework for ICZM in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas.

The PSBSC team (including the Chair of the ICZM Advisory Group and the ICZM Focal Point for Georgia) participating in the planning meeting was lead by the PSBSC Executive Director.