Project Sustainable development of the area of Aragvi Protected Landscape and the local communities (2018-2024)

Aragvi Protected Landscape was established by the Government of Georgia in 2020 and its main goal is to preserve valuable natural and cultural heritage, ensure decent socio-economic conditions for local population and help to attract more tourists to this breathtaking mountainous region.

The region of Aragvi Protected Landscape is inhabited by Pshavs, Khevsurs and Gudamakarians whose livelihoods have been traditionally based mainly on cattle and/or sheep breeding and on subsistence agriculture, and, to a limited extend, also on forestry and wood production. However, this source of living has become more difficult due to inexistence of various pieces of value chain of milk and meat production, inexistence of functioning cooperatives, fees for the use of pastures, climate change, erosion, etc. Moreover, new opportunities have emerged elsewhere (in the nearby capital Tbilisi) which have attracted the youth. Besides that, these three Georgian sub-ethnic groups had to face a pressure from the former communist regime, they had to abandon their homes several times and only some of them came back which has interrupted an organic development of the region as well as the historic memory of people. At the same time, none of these regions has become as attractive for tourists as other parts of the Great Caucasus range (Svaneti, the region of Stepantsminda, Tusheti or Piraketa Khevsureti).

The program aims to address some of these issues based on the Liaison Entre Actions pour le Développement de l’Economie Rurale - LEADER approach which aims at empowering local actors to contribute to the development of their rural areas by forming area-based Local Action Group (LAG) partnerships.

The Program of Sustainable Development of Aragvi Protected Landscape and the Local Communities consists of several interlinked projects, implemented by Czech and local experts from public and non-governmental institutions. Project on Sustainable Development of Communities in Aragvi is implemented by Czech NGO People in Need; project Sustainable Forestry is implemented by the Forest Management Institute (Czech Republic), and project on Management of Aragvi Protected Landscape is implemented by Krkonoše National Park (Czech Republic).

Main achievements from 2018 till 2022:

• Administration of Aragvi Protected Landscape established, personnel trained and equipped (including 3 SUV cars for rangers), management plan for the APL developed (to be approved by local authorities);
• LAG Aragvi established, more than 80 grants for local farmers and tourism related service providers distributed (e.g. supporting production of traditional local products, such as honey, herbal tea, wooden crafts, as well as improving efficiency in cattle/sheep breeding, bee keeping practices and the efficiency of fodder production);
• Forestry management plan being prepared, workshops on different forest management approaches being organized to share Czech experiences, data collection and forest inventory in APL started in cooperation with local partners;
• Website with relevant information about APL and the program created with direct links on different project websites (including videos) https://www.aragviregion.com/en-us/.

In 2023, more projects focused on social, health, educational-environmental aspects as well as trail marking will start in order to fulfill the main objective of the program – contribute to sustainable development of the Aragvi area and improve livelihoods of the local communities.

The program has been implemented in close cooperation with all relevant local partners, mainly Dusheti Municipality, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Agency of Protected Areas and National Forestry Agency.

For more information, please watch the videos on Aragvi program on Youtube:

1. https://fb.watch/i5-p5h3su8/
2. https://fb.watch/i5-qNvzFDU/
3. https://fb.watch/i5-rvskIqe/
4. https://fb.watch/i5-s6hUTl_/
5. https://fb.watch/i5-sEkzR67/