Transforming Policy and Investment through Improving Ecosystem Management and Restoration of Degraded Drylands of Dedoplistskaro Biosphere Reserve in Georgia to Generate Multiple Environmental and Socio-Economic Benefits

The project aims to improve biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of ecosystems and restoration of degraded drylands in Dedoplistskaro Biosphere Reserve (BR), located in the south-eastern part of Georgia, in Kakheti Region. The project area is part of the Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot and harbours many endemic, rare and threatened species of flora and fauna. The project area is also vulnerable to climate change and damaging human activities, such as deforestation, overgrazing and unsustainable land use and agricultural practices, which result in soil erosion, loss of soil nutrients, changes to the water cycle, and disruptions to the carbon and nitrogen cycles. The project will address these problems and barriers by enhancing national legislation, policies, and capacities for sustainable use of biodiversity in Georgia’s biosphere reserves (Component 1); applying and demonstrating collaborative management of Dedoplistskaro BR (Component 2); and managing knowledge effectively (Component 3). The project will generate global environmental benefits by restoring 10,000 ha of land and ecosystems, improving practices on 20,000 ha of landscape (excluding protected areas), mitigating 1.7 million MtCO2 greenhouse gas emissions, benefiting about 5,000 people (of which 53% are women). The project will also be innovative and transformative by establishing the first biosphere reserves in Georgia and in the South Caucasus Region, which will demonstrate a new model of conservation and development that reconciles the protection of biodiversity with its sustainable use. The project will also leverage the support and resources from various sources and partners, such as national authorities, regional and local authorities, local communities, civil society organizations, private sector actors, research, and academic institutions, etc., who will be involved in the governance and management of Dedoplistskaro BR, as well as benefit from the project interventions and outcomes.