Endangered species and their habitats
When speaking of wild nature under threat of extinction, we usually begin with the status of a species — the Red List or an international classification. Georgian legislation approaches the issue more broadly: first, it protects the ecosystems in which these species live — including aquatic objects; second, it regulates the removal of wild flora and fauna from the environment through licensing; and third, it places endangered species in a separate registration system. Together these three instruments create the legal space in which the protection of endangered species grows.
Protection of ecosystems — including aquatic habitats
Natural ecosystems, landscapes and territories must be protected from pollution, violation, damage, degradation, exhaustion and destruction. Protection extends, inter alia, to: the sea coastal zone; wetlands, spring heads, the sources of reservoirs and rivers, glaciers, caves; subalpine and floodplain forests; valuable forest massifs; green zone forests; sanitary protection zones and territories. The evident dominance of aquatic ecosystems in this list makes it clear: the sources of rivers, wetlands and spring heads are precisely the habitats where many freshwater species live and breed.
Any activity related to the use and management of natural ecosystems, landscapes and territories, and the management regime, is carried out taking into account environmental protection norms and requirements. This means that habitat protection is the first line of species protection: if an aquatic object is damaged, the species' positions are also endangered. The classification of aquatic habitats is particularly important in this system, because the breeding areas of most endangered freshwater species lie precisely on territories of this type. Protecting spring heads and river sources is not opposed to species protection — on the contrary, it is the spatial condition without which any species programme is futile.
Licensing of wild flora and fauna
For the self-reproduction of wild plant and animal resources and the maintenance of biodiversity, their removal from the environment is strictly limited and subject to licensing — apart from the granting of the right to prepare timber as a result of an auction conducted by the forest management body under the Forest Code. Licensing simultaneously provides quantitative and procedural control over the use of a species.
At the same time, any action that may harm the world of wild plants and animals, their habitats, breeding areas and migration routes is prohibited. In the habitat dimension this prohibition is especially significant: no one may remove a species from the environment, but if its breeding area is destroyed, the result is the same. The rules of protection and use of wild flora and fauna are established by Georgian legislation.
The Red List and the Red Book
Wild animals and wild plants under threat of extinction are registered in the Red List and the Red Book of Georgia. Registration is a special legal status of a species: it requires particular care in every decision on use and also directs the permit and licence practice. The procedure for compiling the Red List and the Red Book is determined by Georgian legislation.
The combination of the three instruments
The three norms described complement rather than duplicate one another. The protection of ecosystems is directed at habitats — the space where the species lives; licensing — at the operations of removal themselves; the Red List and the Red Book — at identifying the species most at risk. Some species live in a habitat that is not a separate protected area, and then the only instruments of their protection are the prohibition and licensing; others live in one that is already protected, and then the territory's regime also covers the species' regime. The task of legal analysis is to draw the precise boundary between these two layers. The application of this three-tier system in a specific case begins with three questions: where the object is located and which ecosystem it affects; whether the planned activity involves removal of a species from the environment and accordingly requires a licence; and whether the affected species is entered in the Red List or the Red Book. The international dimension must not be forgotten either: international trade in species included in the annexes of the Convention is regulated by a separate permit, which also controls the circulation of endangered species at the international level.
The law defines two levels of protection. The first is ecosystemic: natural ecosystems, landscapes and territories must be protected from pollution, violation, damage, degradation, depletion and destruction; protection extends to the sea coastal zone, wetlands, spring heads, river sources, glaciers and caves, subalpine and floodplain forests, valuable forest massifs, green-zone forests and sanitary-protection zones. The second is species-level: the removal of wild flora and fauna from the environment is strictly limited and subject to licensing for the purposes of self-reproduction and the preservation of biodiversity, and any action that may harm the habitat, breeding areas and migration routes is prohibited. Endangered species are registered in the Red List and Red Book of Georgia — which means their status is fixed documentarily, and the whole arc of obligations attaches precisely to this list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below we answer frequently asked questions about endangered species.
What are the Red List and the Red Book?
Forms of registration of endangered wild animals and plants; the procedure for their compilation is defined by Georgian legislation.
May a species be removed from the environment?
Strictly limited and subject to licensing; harming the habitat, breeding areas and migration routes is impermissible.
Which territories are protected?
The sea coastal zone, wetlands, spring heads, glaciers, caves, subalpine and floodplain forests, valuable forest massifs, green-zone forests and sanitary-protection zones.
How We Help on Legal.ge
Every decision connected with endangered species — a license, a plan or a project — must fit the ecosystemic and species-protection norms. The lawyers of Legal.ge will assess your situation within the legislation in force and assist in the licensing procedure and in dispute. Write to us on Legal.ge.