Caucasus Mountains (Georgia)

Samegrelo, Georgia

The Wyss Foundation is supporting the Caucasus Nature Fund to create five new protected areas in Georgia’s Caucasus Mountains. The Caucasus Nature Fund is a nonprofit created in 2007 by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Wildlife Fund, and Conservation International.  Once completed, the new parks (Shida Kartli, Racha, Svaneti, Samegrelo, and Guria) will cover at least 222,000 hectares (550,000 acres), and potentially more. 

Stretching between the Black and Caspian Seas, the Caucasus Mountains have been identified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as one of just thirty-six global biodiversity hotspots. They form a biodiversity crossroads, where species and habitats found in Central and Northern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa converge. The unique topography of the region produces microclimates and unique soil types, giving rise to an astounding 1,200 plant and fifty animal species that are found nowhere else in the world.  The area serves as critical habitat for globally threatened species including the Caucasian leopard, the Caucasian tur (a mountain dwelling goat), and the Armenian mouflon, among others.

In September 2021, the Georgian Government and Caucasus Nature Fund signed an agreement to support the creation of the five new protected areas. Two of the proposed parks (Shida Kartli and Guria) are in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, and three (Racha, Svaneti, and Samegrelo) are in the Greater Caucasus Mountains.