Salome Kurasbediani, the Deputy Chairperson of the Environment Protection and Natural Resources Committee, attended the conference "Biodiversity and large infrastructure projects in Georgia" organized by the nature conservation organization "Sabuko" and supported by the German Embassy and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung.

She addressed the participants of the event. Salome Kurasbediani spoke about the laws adopted by the Parliament within the framework of the Association Agreement with the European Union and the legislative initiatives that the Parliament is considering within the current session.

Speaking on the mentioned issue, the MP focused on the draft law on biodiversity, which the government plans to initiate by the end of this year.

"According to the latest evaluation by the European Union, Georgia has achieved good compliance with European Union laws in terms of nature protection. This is an important achievement, but several challenges and issues still need to be addressed. The legislative body is working in coordination with the executive authority to tackle these challenges. One of the key issues is the draft law on biodiversity. Its review and adoption are crucial as it establishes a systematic approach to biodiversity protection and sets standards for the preservation of wild plant and animal species. It also addresses international trade regulation issues. Once this law is adopted, the existing Georgian laws on the Red List and Red Book will be abolished, and the new law will define the areas of regulation in this regard”, - Salome Kurasbediani stated.

She emphasized the importance of integrating biodiversity considerations into various sectoral strategic documents, including infrastructure projects and various aspects of agriculture. During the panel discussion, reports were presented by MP Ana Natsvlishvili, the Head of the Biodiversity and Forestry Policy Department at the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture, Karlo Amirgulashvili, and Keti Gujaraidze, a representative of Green Alternative.