Tree Cutting

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Environment

Watchdogs: Georgian Forest Fund lost 500 square kilometers in 5 years

by Shota Kincha

•3 min read

A new report from a coalition of environmental and rights groups casts doubt on Georgia’s recent commitment to sustainable forest management. In a joint press conference on 26 November, the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN), Human Rights Centre, and the Green Movement of Georgia have reported that the Georgian Forest Fund has lost 500 km² of forested territory over the last five years. The area is equal to more than half of the size of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, the large

Azerbaijan

Mass felling of trees in north Azerbaijan continue, activists warn

by Ismi Aghayev

•1 min read

Environmental activists estimate that nearly five hectares of trees were illegally cut down in the village of Farzalioba in northern Azerbaijan. The trees were located on land owned by Adil Salimov, the father of Azerbaijani MP Eldaniz Salimov. Ecofront, an Azerbaijan-based environmental NGO, first published information about the incident on 1 June. Javid Gara, a co-founder of Ecofront, told OC Media, that trees are still being felled despite the fact that Garb Ekol, the company that has be

Environment

Riot police deployed to Svaneti in ‘illegal logging’ crackdown

by OC Media

•3 min read

Authorities dispatched special police forces including riot police to Georgia’s historic region of Svaneti on Thursday after a group of local people protested a visit by the financial police to the villages of Khaishi and Chuberi. According to TV Imedi, residents refused to let the police search their properties and threw rocks and sticks at them. The authorities said no one was detained or hurt. Khaishi and Chuberi are sites of frequent protests against the nearby construction of the Nensk

Environment

Protest after trees ‘cut down’ in Tbilisi

by OC Media

•3 min read

Green activists are protesting the possible cutting down of up to 71 trees at a Tbilisi construction site. Local activist group Guerrilla Gardening Tbilisi expressed concern after being alerted that a number of trees had already been cut down near Vazha-Pshavela Avenue. The company developing the site, IG Development, denies that there are any plans to cut down trees. However, documents acquired from the Tbilisi Mayor’s Office by Liberali show that the company applied for permission to cut

Armenia

Fire and logging threaten Armenia’s forests

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•5 min read

Despite a ban, industrial and small scale logging for firewood is still relatively commonplace, as it’s a more affordable than gas, and fires continue to ravage vast tracts of in Armenia’s forests. A number of local and international organisations are trying to fight back, to protect and restore Armenia’s forests. [Read in Armenian — Հոդվածը հայերեն կարդացեք] ‘Best case scenario, two-thirds of our forests remain’ Samvel Sarukhanyan, 67, lives in the village of Dovegh, bordering Azerbai

Environment

Illegal logging revealed in Georgia

by OC Media

•2 min read

Twelve cases of illegal logging were revealed by Georgia’s Environmental Supervision Department on 1 August, 10 in Kakheti and two in Samtskhe-Javakheti. In a statement, the department said that people had been caught transporting illegally cut wood from hornbeam, beech, and oak trees in Lagodekhi, Gurjaani, Telavi and Sagarejo municipalities in Kakheti and Borjomi and the village of Uraveli in South Georgia. The department, operating under the Ministry of Environment, has passed the

Environment

Mass tree felling near Tbilisi for motorway construction

by OC Media

•2 min read

About 4,000 trees will be cut due to the construction of a 400 metre section of motorway linking the Georgian capital Tbilisi with Rustavi to the south. According to the On.ge, up to 2,500 trees have already been cut, and process is still underway. The project supervision service of the Municipal Development Fund has confirmed the cutting down of trees, saying that because of the project’s significance to the country, a large amount of trees have to be cut down. Irina Svanidze, an en