The Law on the System of Protected Areas and Its Purpose
The creation, management and protection of protected areas in Georgia are regulated by the Law of Georgia on the System of Protected Areas. This act determines what kinds of territories exist in the country, how the rules for activities within them are written, and what liability applies to breaches of the law's requirements. On this page we explain the core norms that most often reach any nature-use activity — the determination of categories under Article 3, the regulation of activities under Article 20, and the forms of liability under Article 23.
Understanding the law is practical both for entrepreneurs and for persons engaged in tourism, farming or construction on or near a protected area: a violation is established precisely under the rules fixed by this law and by the individual statute of each territory, and it is often the imprecision of those rules that creates the legal basis of a dispute.
Categories of Protected Areas
Article 3 describes the national categories of protected areas. Under the law, the categories of protected areas are: a state nature reserve, a national park, a natural monument, a managed reserve, a protected landscape and a multiple-use area. Each category carries its own protection regime: the strictest regime belongs to the state nature reserve, while the multiple-use area combines protection with designated use.
Beyond the national categories, the law declares that Georgia may host categories included in the international network of protected areas — a biosphere reserve, a world heritage site and a wetland of international importance. This means that one and the same territory may simultaneously belong to a national category and to the international network — with additional international obligations extending to it. Determining the category correctly matters because it is from the category that the verification of the admissibility of an activity begins.
Forms of Regulation Under Article 20
Article 20 provides that activities in protected areas are determined according to the categories, in conformity with international agreements and conventions. The organization of activities connected with protected areas takes place through regulation inside the territory, regulation outside the territory, or temporary regulation. The detailed rules for the regulation of activities are fixed by the individual statute and the management plan of each protected area.
Inside a protected area the law prohibits: the destruction and alteration of natural ecosystems; the destruction, removal, damaging or distressing of any natural resource for exploitation or any other purpose; damage to ecosystems and species through pollution of the environment; the introduction and spread of alien and exotic species of living organisms; the bringing of explosive and toxic substances into the territory; and any other activity not permitted by the individual statute and the management plan of the protected area.
A separate group consists of activities subject to regulation: the admission of visitors at defined places; hunting, fishing, camping, the lighting of fires, trade and commercial activity; the construction of buildings, roads and structures and the alteration of their historic appearance; the use of land, air and water transport on, above or under the territory; the behavior of visitors around the clock; the collection and capture of plants and animals and their removal beyond the territory; the driving out, isolation or destruction of abandoned domestic animals; and the gathering by the local population of a non-renewable natural resource — slate — for traditional buildings or for an activity defined by the management plan, whose extraction rules are determined by the Government of Georgia.
The law also defines the objects of control: inside the protected area, every type of permitted scientific, educational and farming activity is controlled, together with tourist-recreational activity, which must ensure an even distribution of visitor flows, prior registration of selected areas, correspondence of the time and duration of admission to the aims of the territory, and correspondence of the visitor limit to the number of visitors. Temporary regulation applies before the legalization of the category and the approval of the first management plan, as well as during measures to eliminate natural disasters and catastrophes. Outside the territory, the condition of ecosystems and resources in the buffer zone is controlled, together with development programs touching it, preventive measures against harmful activity and the compensation of damage caused.
Liability Under Article 23
Article 23 states that in the event of a breach of the requirements of this law, administrative, civil and criminal liability are provided for. The law does not itself specify, for each individual breach, the concrete amount of a fine or other sanction — that is established by the relevant codes and other normative acts. Each concrete case therefore requires an exact qualification of the breach: some acts are punished by an administrative order, others give rise to a claim for compensation of damage, and in the gravest cases criminal liability is engaged.
From a civil-law perspective, the norm on the compensation of damage caused by activity harmful to a protected area is also important: the scope of the damage and the method of its assessment become the central questions of a dispute where the act was committed on a neighboring territory but its impact extends to the protected area.
Practical Directions of the Defense
Disputes connected with protected areas rest on three questions. First, the correctness of the determination of the zone and the boundary: where an accusation relies on the claim that an act was committed inside a protected area, the exact boundary of the territory and the form of regulation applying to the specific place must be established. Second, the basis of admissibility: the individual statute and the management plan are the documents that determine what is permitted and what is prohibited on a given territory, and ignorance of their content in an indictment often turns into an error. Third, intent and knowledge: a person may lack information about the restrictions established by temporary regulation or by the regime of a buffer zone.
An attorney engaged at an early stage can thus correct the qualification — for example, reducing a criminal charge to an administrative offence, or building a substantiated critique of the amount of the assessed damage. The regime of temporary regulation — before the legalization of the category or the approval of the first management plan — is a separate object of dispute, because during that period the content of the restrictions is not fully defined.
Frequently Asked Questions
What categories of protected areas exist in Georgia?
Under Article 3, the national categories are: state nature reserve, national park, natural monument, managed reserve, protected landscape and multiple-use area; categories included in the international network may also exist.
Where are the concrete prohibitions written?
In the individual statute and the management plan of each protected area — the law sets the general framework, while the detailed rules are determined by those documents.
What liability applies to a breach of the law?
Under Article 23, administrative, civil and criminal liability are provided for; the concrete sanction for each breach is established by the relevant codes.
Is activity outside the protected area regulated too?
Yes — the law provides for regulation outside the territory as well: through the buffer-zone regime, the control of development programs and the prevention of activity harmful to the protected area.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The attorneys at Legal.ge assist individuals and companies involved in disputes connected with protected areas: we analyze the category, zoning and individual statute of the territory; verify the qualification of the accusation against the forms of regulation established by law; and provide representation in administrative and court proceedings alike.
If your activity concerns a protected area or its buffer zone and you face an accusation of a violation, contact us at Legal.ge — we will assess your situation on the basis of the exact norms of the law and plan a defense strategy.