Leading Beneficiary Institutions:

• Ministry of Environment Protection of Georgia  Web-site

One of the most important goals of the Ministry is to support sustainable development of the country in the field of environment; to organize environmental planning system; to elaborate and implement state policy, target programs, strategy of environmental protection for sustainable development, national environmental action programs and management plans in the field of environmental protection and natural resources; to protect and preserve unique landscapes and ecosystems, rare and endangered species of flora and fauna that are characteristic for the country, biodiversity, atmospheric air, water, land and mineral resources; to implement public administration (regulation, registration, supervision and control) on waste management and chemicals; to follow the Georgian legislation in the field of environmental protection and to implement the international commitments within its competence.
Nowadays Ministry of Environment Protection coordinates 15 international environmental conventions among the convention ratified by Georgia, 3 protocols and 3 agreements to these conventions. In addition, the Ministry carries out certain actions and participates in environmental activities under 7 international environmental conventions and protocols, which are not ratified by Georgia yet.

• Agency of Natural Resources under the Ministry of Energy and Natural resources Web-site
  

One of the important state institutions by its functions and responsibilities for overall environmental management in the country, especially after structural reforms of the Georgian Government taking place in March 2011,is the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources– MENR(www.menr.gov.ge). Main responsibilities of the MENR before the structural reform included policy making and developing functions in the energy sector, as well as overseeing construction and rehabilitation procedures of hydroelectric and fuel power stations, high-voltage power transmission lines, natural gas and oil pipelines, construction of renewable energy power stations, etc. In addition the MENR now includes two Legal Entities of Public Law (LEPL) that used to be part of the Ministry of Economic Development– theAgency of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Environment - the Basic Sapling Nursery. Besides these the following former Ministry of Environment structural units have joined the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources: Department of Forestry, Department of Geology, Service of Nuclear and Radiation Safety and Environmental Inspectorate.

Other Key Beneficiary Institutions/Agencies:

• National Environmental Agency (NEA) under the Ministry of Environment Protection Web-site

Collection, maintenance and analysis of new environmental data, as well as its further processing as environmental datasets (or DBMS - database management system) is carried out by the National Environmental Agency– NEA),a legal entity of public law (LEPL) operating under the Ministry of Environment Protection.  NEA is the only institution in Georgia having legal mandate to carry out regular observation on hydro-meteorological processes, chemical and biological monitoring of marine, surface and ground waters, atmospheric air, as well as soil contamination, geological hazards, etc. NEA was re-established as a legal entity in 2005; however the agency has very long history of operating in Georgia.It is based on the former State Hydrometeorology Department following the multiple structural reforms due to the recent Government changes in Georgia. Predecessor of the Agency, the Tbilisi Physical Observatory, was established in 1837. Up until breakup of the Soviet Union, Hydro-meteorological Service of Georgia (also knownshortly as Georgian Hydromet) had very strong position having financial (mostly subsidized from the central budget) and human resources to sustain and process data from 300 hydro-meteorological and agro-meteorological observation points; about 80 hydrological stations and 115 water quality observation points.

The National Environmental Agency consists of four structural units: Administrative Department, Department of Geological Hazards and Geological Environment Management, Department of Hydrometeorology and Department of Environment Pollution Monitoring. Functions of the Agency include the following:

• assessment of existing and forecasted situations on hydro-meteorological, geodynamic and geo-ecological processes in whole territory of Georgia, river basins and water bodies, territorial waters of the Black Sea and continental shelf;
• monitoring of meteorological, hydrological, geological and litho-dynamic parameters
• collection and dissemination of meteorological, hydrological, geological and pollution monitoring data on environment (atmospheric air, surface and marine waters, soils), level of radiation and bio-diversity monitoring
• elaboration of short-term, mid- and long-term forecasting on meteorological, hydrological, geological and environmental quality parameters and dissemination of this information among local self-governance, interested parties and general public;
• elaboration of risk assessments for hydro-meteorological, geological and ecological hazards and coordinating prevention activities for mitigation measures;
• preparation of yearbooks, bulletins, reviews, notes and other materials consisting of actual information on environment pollution and hydro-meteorological and geological hazards