The legal status of wetlands
In Georgian environmental legislation wetlands are recognized, first, as a component of the environment: in the law's definitions, the list of environmental information names, alongside air, atmosphere, water, soil, land and landscape, also the wetland, the coastal zone and the marine area. This simple enumeration carries great legal weight: what is a component of the environment falls under the state's informational and protective interest, and any impact upon it becomes the subject of environmental assessment and control.
Second, wetlands are a separate subject of the protection of natural ecosystems: under the law, protection extends, inter alia, to the sea coastal zone; wetlands, spring heads, the sources of reservoirs and rivers, glaciers and caves; subalpine and floodplain forests; valuable forest massifs; green zone forests; sanitary protection zones and territories. The appearance of wetlands in this list means that the legislator recognizes them as independent objects of immediate protection, and not as subjects awaiting infrastructure development.
The aim of protection and the general conditions
Natural ecosystems, landscapes and territories must be protected from pollution, violation, damage, degradation, exhaustion and destruction. These six types of threat form the framework by which the law assesses any impact: if an action causes the pollution, violation or degradation of a wetland, it already contradicts the aim of the law.
Any activity related to the use and management of natural ecosystems, landscapes and territories, and the regime of their management, is carried out taking into account environmental protection norms and requirements. Issues related to use and management — including land-use planning and zoning — are determined by Georgian legislation. For a wetland this means that any plan to develop or cover it must first be assessed in the environmental context and only then in the rules of land use. When deciding on a wetland, three documentary contours must be read simultaneously: the act on the territory's protection status, the environmental assessment documentation and the land-use planning materials — their intersection creates the legal basis whose absence later costs the project dearly.
Wetlands in the international protection network
For wetlands the norm on the international categories of protected areas is particularly significant: Georgia admits the existence of categories included in international networks of protected areas — a biosphere reserve, a world heritage site and a wetland of international importance. It is this last category that is the internationally recognized form of wetland protection: its existence is declared admissible by law, which links it to the system of Georgia's international obligations. A biosphere reserve is built on the reconciliation of conservation and sustainable use, a world heritage site points to outstanding universal value, and a wetland of international importance serves the global protection of water ecosystems.
At the same time, a wetland may fall not only into an international category: it may also come under 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 — and a marsh ecosystem may be placed within any of these forms. Each category establishes its own protection regime, and the details of the regime are regulated by separate legislation.
Who creates protected areas and what this means for wetlands
Protected areas are created by decision of the Parliament of Georgia — a decision elevated to the level of the highest representative body, which gives the status stability. For a wetland this is doubly significant: first, the national framework of protection is opened by an act of Parliament and is not changed by an administrative decision; second, compatibility with an international category is also perceived in the context of external obligations. In addition, the law's definitions extend to environmental information: data on the condition of the components of the environment — including wetlands, the coastal zone and the marine area — are placed in the legal space accessible to the public. The status of a wetland thus simultaneously concerns its physical protection, the assessment of impacts upon it and the accessibility of information about it.
Practical conclusions
For a project touching a wetland, the sequence of assessment is as follows: first determine whether the territory falls within any category of protected area — national or international; then assess how the planned action corresponds to the aim of protecting the ecosystem from pollution, violation, damage, degradation, exhaustion and destruction; and finally determine which environmental documentation the activity related to use and management requires. The status of a wetland is thus a function not of a single norm but of an entire set of norms: the definitions recognize it as a component of the environment, the aim of protection sets the boundaries of impact upon it, and the categories of protected areas give it a spatial-legal form.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a wetland recognized in the law?
As a component of the environment — listed in the definition of environmental information together with the coastal zone and the marine area — and as an object of protection, under the norm on the protection of natural ecosystems.
Does an international wetland category exist?
Yes — a wetland of international importance is an admissible category under the law, alongside the biosphere reserve and the world heritage site.
Who creates a protected area?
By decision of the Parliament of Georgia.
How We Help on Legal.ge
Questions connected with wetlands depend on the interplay of definitions, protective aims and territorial forms. On Legal.ge you can consult an environmental-law lawyer on assessing the status of an area and determining the rights of its use.