Land conservation rests on the norms of the environmental protection law: soil quality is measured by qualitative norms, the use of chemical agents is regulated by separate rules, and the use of land is bounded by load norms and quotas. On this page you will find a complete description of these three instruments together with the general framework of ecosystem protection.
Qualitative Norms of the State of the Environment
The qualitative norms of the state of the environment cover the limit-permissible norms of the concentrations of substances harmful to human health and the natural environment in atmospheric air, water, and soil, and of the quantities of microorganisms, as well as the norms of noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields, other physical impacts, and radiation. For soil conservation the norms of the concentration of harmful substances in soil are decisive.
These norms are determined once every 5 years by the relevant regulation, developed and approved — in agreement with the Ministry — by the ministry responsible for health and social protection. The five-year renewal cycle means that the assessment of the state of land must always rest on the current norms.
Norms for the Use of Chemical Agents
The norms for the use in the environment of mineral fertilizers, plant protection agents, growth stimulators, and other chemical agents are established in such a way that no threat is created to human health, the world of plants and animals, or the soil. For agriculture this is the central rule: the use of agrochemicals in a manner damaging the soil is impermissible.
The norms for the use of chemical agents in the environment and the rules for their transport, storage, and use are developed once every 5 years and approved by regulation of the Ministry in agreement with the health ministry. In addition, a unified state registry of chemical substances is established for accounting and control, whose compilation procedure is determined by legislation — the owner and user of land works in coordination with this system.
Norms of Load on the Environment
In the use and development of natural ecosystems, landscapes, and other territories, limit-permissible norms of their load are established — the norms of load on the environment. This is the third instrument of land conservation: land must be used in such a way that its load does not exceed the established limit.
The load norms include quotas for the use of natural resources, which are established at the state level taking into account the principles of sustainable development; the quotas for the use of individual species of natural resources are established at regional and local levels. The norms are developed and approved by the Ministry once every 5 years by regulation.
The Framework of Ecosystem Protection
All instruments of land conservation serve one common goal: natural ecosystems, landscapes, and territories must be protected from pollution, disturbance, damage, degradation, depletion, and destruction. Specific objects are also subject to protection: wetlands, springheads, the sources of rivers, subalpine and floodplain forests, valuable forest massifs, green zone forests, and sanitary protection zones.
The matters connected with the use of land — including land use planning and zoning — are determined by Georgian legislation. Thus land conservation works on three levels: the norms of soil quality, the regime of chemicals, and the quotas of load are integrated into the general framework of ecosystem protection.
Practical Conclusions
In increasing the productivity of land, observe three rules: use chemical agents within the established norms; do not exceed the established limits of load on the land; and if your plot concerns an object subject to protection, its regime takes priority. Taking into account the five-year normative cycle is a guarantee that your assessment rests on the current requirements.
The Link of the Sustainability Principle to Quotas
At the core of the load norms lies the principle of sustainable development: quotas are established at the state level precisely in consideration of this principle. This means that land conservation is not merely a set of prohibitions — it is an instrument of balanced use: the use of a resource is admissible, but only within the framework that does not put future generations at risk.
The regional and local level of quotas means that the limit of use of an individual resource — including land — is tailored to local realities. For the user of land this means that the permissible load must always be verified for the specific territory and resource, and not settled with a general notion.
The Registry of Chemicals and Accounting
The unified state registry of chemical substances is also a source of orientation: on its basis it is established which substance is used under which rules. The rules of transport, storage, and use, together with this registry, create the complete picture: not only how much chemical use is permissible, but also how it must be stored and transported.
From a sanitary point of view this is particularly important: violations of the storage and transport rules are often precisely the source of soil pollution, and from the standpoint of land conservation this is as much a violation as exceeding the norms.
Land conservation is three successive questions: what is the state of the soil according to the qualitative norms; how are chemical agents used in accordance with the norms and rules; and within what limits of load is the land used. Exact answers to these three questions are the foundation of the long-term preservation of land as a resource.
All rules of land conservation ultimately serve one goal — the long-term preservation of land as a productive resource, and it is in the prism of this goal that both the normative cycles and the quotas and registries should be read.
A final practical advice: keep your own record of chemical applications and loads — in a dispute or inspection these records become the starting point of proof, and the five-year cycle of norms makes reconciliation with the current edition of the regulations necessary.