Waterlogged Territories and Ecosystem Protection
Waterlogged territories — wetlands, spring heads, the sources of reservoirs and rivers — are listed outright in the list of protected ecosystems under the environmental protection law. This page describes that list, the instruments for protecting rare species, and the system of protected areas — three tiers that together protect a waterlogged territory.
The List of Protected Objects
Natural ecosystems, landscapes and territories must be protected from pollution, disturbance, damage, degradation, depletion and destruction. Protection extends to: the sea coastal zone; wetlands, spring heads, the sources of reservoirs and rivers, glaciers, caves; sub-alpine and floodplain forests; valuable forest massifs; green-zone forests; sanitary protection zones and territories. For the protection of waterlogged territories this list defines the circle of objects with which any intervention proceeds with regard to environmental protection norms.
Rare Species — the Red List and Red Book
Endangered wild animals and wild plants are registered in the Red List and the Red Book of Georgia, and the procedure for their compilation is determined by Georgian legislation. Waterlogged territories are often named precisely as the habitat sphere of such species — so inclusion in the Red List is one of the most important criteria for protecting a waterlogged complex.
The System of Protected Areas
The formation of the system of protected areas serves the protection and preservation of the self-contained natural-cultural environment and its individual components. The law establishes categories of protected areas that give this system an organized structure. For a waterlogged territory this means that one route of its protection is precisely inclusion in these categories and the respective management regime.
The three tiers of wetlands protection complement one another: the general list of protected ecosystems bounds any impact; the Red List defines the special regime of rare species; and the system of protected areas encloses the most valuable complexes within a permanent management frame. Together they create the whole picture by which the legal fate of a waterlogged territory is decided.
The law likewise names the categories of protected areas precisely: a state reserve, a national park, a natural monument, a managed reserve, a protected landscape and a multiple-use territory. The existence of categories integrated into the international network — a biosphere reserve, a world heritage site and a wetland of international importance — is also admissible; the last category concerns waterlogged territories directly. Protected areas are created by decision of the Parliament of Georgia.