Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

The Caucasus Mountains harbor high concentrations of endemic species and provide an abundance of ecosystem services yet are significantly understudied compared to other ecosystems in Eurasia. In the country of Georgia, at the heart of the Caucasus region, forest degradation has been the largest land change process over the last thirty years. The prevailing narrative is that legal and illegal cutting of trees for fuelwood is primarily responsible for this process. Yet, since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country has undergone rapid socioeconomic and institutional changes which have not been explored as drivers of forest change. We combine newly available land-cover change estimates, Georgian statistical data, and historical institutional change data to examine socioeconomic drivers of forest degradation. Our analysis controls for concurrent changes in climate that would affect degradation and examines variation at the regional (state) level from 2011 to 2019, as well as at the national level from 1987 to 2019. We find that higher winter temperature and drought are associated with higher degradation at the regional scale, while major institutional changes and drought are associated with higher forest degradation at the national level. Access to natural gas, the major energy alternative to fuelwood, had no significant association with degradation. Our results challenge the narrative that poverty and a lack of alternative energy infrastructure drive forest degradation and suggest that government policies banning household fuelwood cutting, including the new Forest Code of 2020, may not reduce forest degradation. Given these results, improved data on wood harvesting and more research on the commercial drivers of degradation and their links to economic and political reforms is needed to better inform forest policy in the region, especially given ongoing risks from climate change.

Chestnut, Castanea sativa Miller (Fagales: Fagaceae), is an ecologically and economically important tree species of the forest ecosystem in Southern Europe, North-Western Europe, Western Asia, North Africa, and the Caucasus. The distributional range of chestnut in Europe has been highly modified by humans since ancient times. Biotic and abiotic factors have dramatically changed its distribution. Historic anthropogenic range expansion makes it difficult to identify habitat requirements for natural stands of chestnut. In the Caucasus, natural stands of chestnut survived in glacial forest refugia and landscapes that have been difficult for humans to colonize. To identify the species reliable habitat requirements, we estimated the relationship between climatic variables and 620 occurrence locations of natural chestnut stands from the Caucasus and validated the model using GBIF data from outside the Caucasus. We found that our best model is reasonably accurate and the data from the Caucasus characterize chestnut stands throughout the species range well.

Preserving rare grapes is not just a matter of variety. Recent dna research has shown that unusual and unknown grape varieties provide clues to wine history. During the centuries, 525 Georgian grape varieties had been known but most of them were degenerated. Nowadays, more than 437 rare Georgian vine varieties are preserved in the geo 038 collection of Agricultural Research-Scientific Center, established in 2014 under the Environment Protection and agriculture ministry. Study of the genetic pool of Georgian grape varieties determine the sustainability of the sector and enrichment of the modern wine market. For this reason the studies of the rare aboriginal grape varieties have begun by their ampelography, phenology, chemical, and oeno-caprological characterizes. The aim of this study is to investigate rare, Georgian, aboriginal wine-grapes by their ampelography, chemical and oenolo-caprological characterizes, and to offer different style and aroma wines to the market, enriching the modern wine assortment. The present study investigated firstly the rare Georgian aboriginal grape variety (Chvitiluri) by its characterizes. In this study grapes caprologycal indication, dynamic development of the sugar accumulation, TA and pH in berries, polyphenols extract in skin and seeds, and phenolic compounds were determined. The grape has been compared with Georgian and French wine-grapes and their products as well. The results show that the grape variety - Chvitiluri, and vinification technique (aging on lee) have the significant impact on the total phenol content in wine. White varietal wine contents high alcohol 13,2%, total phenols 733-500mg/l. Wine has specific, varietal characterizes color, taste, aroma. This study indicates that the rare local, aboriginal variety presents the perspective sort for wine production and can be returned in wine production.

This study analyses the Devdoraki Glacier surge type catastrophes since 1776, lead to human casualties, destruction of settlements and the international road in the Georgian Caucasus. According to archival data, at least six ice and ice-rock avalanches fell from the Devdoraki Glacier onto the Tergi (Terek) River valley during the period 1776–1876, the largest on June 18, 1776 and on August 13, 1832. The first blocked the Tergi River for three days and was breached catastrophically; the second was ~100 m high and ~2 km wide and its breach started after 8 hours. The most recent hazard occurred on May 17, 2014 killing nine people, and destroyed the Trans-Caucasus gas pipeline, Dariali Hydropower Plant (HPP) and international road. Using aerial and satellite imagery – Landsat, ASTER, SENTINEL along with the 30 m resolution Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM; 17 November 2011) we have reconstructed this event. On the basis of subsequent detailed field observations, new geological and tectonic maps of the study region have been compiled. After that collapse we have registered ~180 m advance of the Devdoraki Glacier snout between 2014 and 2015, which was mostly caused by rock-ice avalanche deposits. This part of the glacier should be monitored continuously as it can raise debris flow activity in the future. We consider the main hypotheses behind these events, namely a) tectonic and seismic, b) permafrost, c) volcanic and d) morphological factors; interpret the data for mechanisms and velocities of the catastrophic movement and argue that the 2014 event should not be classified as a glacier surge, although the possibility of similar glacial surges can not be excluded. The Kazbegi-Jimara massif should be considered as a natural laboratory that enables the investigation of rock-ice avalanches and glacial mudflows.

Protection of the population of Georgia against the geological hazards, land preservation and safe operation of engineering objects has become a most important social-economic, demographic, political and ecological problem quite a long time ago. This problem has become particularly acute recently, on the background of global climate change and activated and intensified earthquakes, as well as extremely intense human pressing on the geological environment. It should be noted that since the beginning of the 21 century (in 1995–2012 in particular), the trends of activation of the geological calamities in Georgia above the acceptable point is registered almost every year. Recent large-scale development-reactivation of exo-geologic processes against the general background of sensitive geologic environment was stipulated by negative meteorological elements and frequent earthquakes preconditioned by global climate conditions and geologic processes proceeding in transient conditions as well as high pressing of human influence. For mitigation or prevention of negative results, caused by geologic nature the government of Georgia took for indication of basic challenges the plan concerning sustainable development elaborated during the world summit held in Johannesburg in 2002 and resolution, adopted at the world conference held in Hyogo (Japan) in the year of 2005 which was devoted to reduction of catastrophes. The Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia was distinguished as institute, responsible for settlement of problems, stipulated in the above-mentioned documents.

The specifications of distribution and character of dynamic hazards due to water processes is reviewed in the paper: floods, mudflows, landslides, and swamping. The assessment of the damage caused by these processes is also described.