High level press-conference in Tbilisi on the results of the Joint Black Sea surveys

Findings of the Black Sea Monitoring Surveys, carried out by the team of Georgian, Ukrainian and European researchers with assistance from the European Union (EU) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), were presented in Tbilisi on May 23, 2017.

The event brought together representatives of the Georgian Government, environmental organizations, research institutions and international agencies.

Gigla Agulashvili, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Georgia; Tamar Bagratia, Head of the National Environment Agency of Georgia; Niels Scott, Head of UNDP in Georgia; and Vincent Rey, Head of Cooperation Section of the European Union Delegation to Georgia, addressed the participants with welcome remarks.

Jaroslav Slobodnik, Team Leader of the EU / UNDP project “Improving Environmental Monitoring in the Black Sea” (EMBLAS-II), Borys Aleksandrov (Institute of Marine Biology) and Archil Guchmanidze, Head of Fisheries and Black Sea Monitoring Department of the National Environment Agency of Georgia, presented the findings of the survey and described key challenges faced by the Black Sea.

The Joint Black Sea Monitoring Surveys have been carried out in 2016 with funds from the European Union and UNDP, in cooperation with the governments and research institutions of Georgia and Ukraine. This unique research was carried out in the territorial waters of Georgia and Ukraine by a team of researchers from both countries and five EU member-states.

The Surveys examined the environmental status of the Black Sea, screened emerging pollutants, studied marine litter and aquatic life below the oxygen layer, and compiled a photographic identity catalogue of dolphins.

The Joint Black Sea Monitoring Surveys contribute to the implementation of Georgia’s and Ukraine’s Association Agreements with the European Union in the field of marine and water strategies, as well as to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 related to the sustainable use of seas and oceans.

Read the main findings in Georgian here.

The text is mostly taken from UNDP Georgia web-site http://www.ge.undp.org/content/georgia/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2017/05/23/black-sea-is-damaged-by-human-activity-the-environmental-research-reveals/

See the links here:

Geotimes

http://geotimes.ge/index.php?m=5&news_id=39990

NEWSPAPER BATUMELEBI

http://batumelebi.netgazeti.ge/news/80293/#sthash.Pq0F382J.dpbs

http://batumelebi.netgazeti.ge/weekly1/50579/#sthash.xFQjuTEL.dpbs

http://batumelebi.netgazeti.ge/news/80025/

INFORMATION ANALITICAL PORTAL – KVIRA

http://kvira.ge/311300

http://kvira.ge/330762