The Caucasus forms an ecoregion  that has been identified by environmental scientists as having the highest level of bio-diversity in a temperate climate zone in the world. It is one of only 34 so-called “bio-diversity hotspots” worldwide according to Conservation International. 

Broadly, the ecoregion includes, from north to south, the Caucasus republics of Russia descending from the northern slope of the greater Caucasus mountain range, and the countries of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as relatively small corners of Turkey and Iran to the south. The entire ecoregion is about the size of France. The recently independent countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are at the region’s core and form about 40% of its land mass, and the CPAF's priority is to support those three countries.  Armenia and Georgia have confirmed their commitments to work with the CPAF.  Since confirmation from Azerbaijan is still outstanding, this profile refers principally to Armenia and Georgia.

The main strategy of both countries for conserving the world class biodiversity is their protected areas (PA) network, which provides significant environmental and economic benefits to the region’s people. These include watershed maintenance and carbon storage in its old growth forests, which are among the largest in a temperate zone and are home to most of the unique flora and fauna. 

The two counties also recognize that their conservation agendas go hand in hand with sustainable development. Ultimately, conservation goals will not be reached unless the rural communities surrounding protected areas benefit. The main potential the countries’ PA networks to generate revenue for local communities lies in the possibility of showcasing the natural beauty through tourism and related natural resource management (NRM) opportunities such as sustainable hunting. 

The PAs in both countries are significantly underfunded. Recent Protected Area Financial Scorecards prepared in connection with Global Environment Facility (GEF) projects in Armenia and Georgia indicate gaps in the annual funding of the PA systems of at least $3 million per country. Proposals for CPAF pilot financing projects in both Armenia and Georgia indicate that basic equipment for managing the target PAs is lacking, and, in one case, salaries of PA personnel are woefully inadequate.

Further, at this stage in the development of the three countries, the financing and management of the PA networks are lacking in transparency and efficiency. Business planning, expense control and budgeting at the PA level are works in progress. Programs to inventory and monitor bio-diversity are non-existent or ineffective. Tourism and natural resources management (NRM) provide basically no revenue to the system today. Maintenance of PA infrastructure is hit or miss depending on the availability of funding.   

In sum, the asset represented by the region’s nature and bio-diversity is not being sustainably used, and the threats posed by poaching, illegal logging and unsustainable development generally persist, with potentially irremediable consequences. << Read less

Close the funding gap for operating and ongoing investment costs in priority PAs and improve management effectiveness in PAs in Armenia and Georgia.

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The Caucasus ecorgion is one of Conservation International's 34 bio-diversity hotspots and is one of WWF's Global 200 Ecoregions. 

In response threats to the biodiversity in the Caucasus, a group of more than 100 regional and international scientists and policymakers collaborated to produce a single eco-regional conservation plan (the ECP). Published in 2006, the ECP proposes the integration of the existing collection of individual protected areas in the region into an expanded trans-boundary network of PAs and connecting corridors. In the three core countries, various steps towards that goal have already been taken, and important forthcoming measures include the creation of at least five new major protected areas over the next four to five years. 

The ECP’s trans-national approach is essential given the number and size of the countries and territories that form the eco-region. Many of the areas to be protected lie on borders, and animals require the eco regional—and not the political—space for their migration, breeding and feeding. The governments in the region have agreed in principle to back this effort. This cooperation has particular significance in a region with lingering territorial conflicts.

Under the ECP, the PAs are integrated into the overall land-use plans which include sustainable use and community-based management of natural resources outside the PA borders. In this way, it is planned that the ECP and PAs will involve and receive the support of local rural communities. This will be as crucial to their success as the support of the governments.

The CPAF’s mission is therefore to support the ongoing operations and maintenance of the protected areas in the region that are in priority areas under the ECP.

There are over 50 existing PAs managed by about 25 PA administtrative units within Armenia and Georgia. Most already existed in one form or another prior to the demise of the USSR. About 15 of the PAs are major national parks and strict nature reserves. Of these larger PAs, a number have benefited from international donor funds in recent years, including grants from Germany’s BMZ, Norway and the World Bank. These grants, however, typically do not assure long-term funding for ongoing operating and maintenance costs.

The ECP’s planned expansion of the system of protected areas will be of limited value if their ongoing operations cannot be funded. As in much of the developing world, there is a serious risk that PAs in the these countries end up as “paper parks”, i.e., PAs that are demarcated as protected on a map but which in reality are poached and exploited much as unprotected land. The CPAF’s primary focus is therefore to tackle this unaddressed but critical need. << Read less

Of the -- hectares of largely pristine forests in the Caucasus eco-region, about --% are estimated to be  located in Protected Areas.  This project will help secure these forests.

Initial Sponsors: German BMZ & KfW; Conservation International; WWF; Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund (CEPF);
Current Commitment: Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Each supported PA is required to develop a management plan prepared with local community participation; in addition to the beneficial effects locally of the incremental direct investment in the PAs effected with project funding, tourism development and natural resouerce management programs implemented under agreed business plans with PAs supported will lead to benefit sharing with the local communities

The Government of Georgia adopted the law on Protected Areas System in 1996, putting the PA network under a firm legal footing. Furthermore, the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) adopted in 2005 defined 10-year strategic goals and objectives for Georgia in the area of biodiversity protection and identified actions to achieve those goals and objectives. Among others, development of protected areas system in order to ensure conservation and sustainable use of biological resources is considered as one of the strategic goals of the NBSAP with a number of specific objectives ranging from establishment of effective protected areas system, improvement of planning, management and financing of PAs to increasing of education and awareness on PAs. The Georgian Basic Data and Directions (BDD), setting-up the government medim-term expenditure framework for the period of 2006-2010 also considers the development of protected areas system and ecotourism as one of the top priority areas for the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia. Georgia now has a system of protected areas covering about 482,842 ha of land or 7% of the country’s territory. The system is composed of 39 protected areas (PAs) of the different management categories presented in the table below. The PA network has grown to include 21 nature reserves, four national parks, three national monuments, eleven managed reserves and one protected landscape. Until 2008, all protected areas were managed by the Department of Protected Areas (DPA). The DPA was replaced in January 2008 by the newly created parastatal, the Agency for Protected Areas (APA), under the oversight of the Ministry of Environment. The APA has begun the process of developing its own internal management policies and systems. Protected areas represent the cornerstone of Georgia’s biodiversity conservation strategy, as reflected in the government’s commitment to achieve a 20.2% coverage (1,417, 522 ha) by 2010 by establishing new protected areas and enlarging some of the existing ones. For this purpose, Georgia has developed a very comprehensive programme on protected areas and strong partnerships with numerous international organizations, such as the World Bank, the EU, BMZ/KfW/GTZ, Governments of US and Norway, IUCN, WWF, Conservation International, etc.

The Government of Armenia has established a network of protected areas which covers about 337,000 ha or 11.3% of the territory of Armenia. If Lake Sevan is excluded, the total percentage drops to 7.1%. The existing network is underfunded. Four types of protected areas are recognised under the “Law on Specially Protected Natural Areas (2006) – State Reserves (equivalent to IUCN category Ia) of which there are three (total area 36,104 ha), National Parks (equivalent to IUCN category II) of which there are three (total terrestrial area 86,165 ha and surface area of Lake Sevan 125,200 ha), Sanctuaries (equivalent to IUCN category IV) of which there are 25 (total area 89,526 ha), and Natural Monuments (equivalent to IUCN category III) for which the list is under revision (see Map 1). In the recent years the Government has created a number of legal and institutional prerequisites for increasing the financial sustainability of the PA system, which serve a positive baseline for the project. Thus, there is a Strategy on Developing Specially Protected Areas and National Action Plan (2003) which contains a PA financing part. The Protected Area Law was most recently amended in 2006 with support from a World Bank project.

Both countries have National Action Plans for biodiversity conservation. << Read less

Goal 1.2: To integrate protected areas into broader land- and seascapes and sectors so as to maintain ecological structure and function
Goal 1.3: To establish and strengthen regional networks, transboundary protected areas (TBPAs) and collaboration between neighbouring protected areas across national boundaries
Goal 1.4: To substantially improve site-based protected area planning and management
Goal 1.5: To prevent and mitigate the negative impacts of key threats to protected areas
Goal 2.1: To promote equity and benefit-sharing
Goal 2.2: To enhance and secure involvement of indigenous and local communities and relevant stakeholders
Goal 3.2: To build capacity for the planning, establishment and management of protected areas
Goal 3.4: To ensure financial sustainability of protected areas and national and regional systems of protected areas
Goal 3.5: To strengthen communication, education and public awareness
Goal 4.1 - To develop and adopt minimum standards and best practices for national and regional protected area systems
Goal 4.3: To assess and monitor protected area status and trends
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