ENVIRONMENT > GEORGIA
Protecting shepherds to fight against climate change
Among Georgia’s 35 reserves and parks, the Vashlovani Protected www.enpi-info.eu Area is the only territory that plays home in winter to large herds of sheep from the Tushetian Mountains. Over the centuries, these pastures have been used without any regulation, which has led to a substantial deterioration of the soil, the water, and the broader environment. As a result, the livelihood of shepherds is now at risk. Funded by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme, a four-year project seeks to rehabilitate the grasslands and introduce sustainable pasture management practices among sheep-breeders. An EU Neighbourhood Info Centre journalist visited the project and sent us this report. Text by Maia Edilashvili Pictures by AFP © EU/Neighbourhood INFO CENTRE
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“The profitability of sheep farming is dropping terribly,” says Fore Tilidze, 77, from Zemo Alvani village, in the Akhmeta Municipality. Having being assigned to oversee the family’s flocks as a 5th grade school boy, he continued to do so for his whole life, with a family of four keeping 800 sheep now. Tilidze complains that the search for pastures and water is becoming a huge challenge, particularly when the flocks migrate down to warmer areas in winter. “If there is not enough grass, where will we take the sheep? We buy water in big tanks and have to pay for it.” The Tush people live in the highland areas. Over the centuries, sheep and cattle breeding has been their key livelihood, which - together with the harsh climate and geography – has contributed to shape their nomadic way of EU Neighbourhood Info Centre life. According to Zurab Murtazashvili, who heads an association called Feature no. 135 Tush Shepherd, around 1,000 Tush people are engaged in sheep farming, owning 56,000 sheep. “It’s a tough business: shepherds spend just four months in the mountains, while during the rest of the year they are on the road – four months migrating down to the lowlands, and then again four months going up to highland Tusheti,” he says.
This is a series of features on projects funded by the EU Regional Programme, prepared by journalists and photographers on the ground or the EU Neighbourhood Info Centre. © 2014 EU Neighbourhood Info Centre
Protecting shepherds to fight against climate change
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre – Feature no. 135
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Created in 1935, the Vashlovani Protected Area – with its desert and semi-desert steppes, cliffs of the canyons and floodplain forests – currently spans over 35,000 hectares. Here, during the winter months, 500 shepherds stay in around 40 shepherd farmhouses. A study has recently revealed that 20% of the land was assessed as “poor”. And the 300km section of the sheep migratory route is in the worst condition. “In many places the land looks like asphalt. So, what to do? Should the number of sheep be cut? Should agro-technological practices be introduced to increase land productivity?” asks Murtazashvili. N Farmers examine fences in the Vashlovani protected area.
“It’s a tough business: shepherds spend just four months in the mountains, while during the rest of the year they are on the road – four months migrating down to the lowlands, and then again four months going up to highland Tusheti”
In two decades will shepherds disappear? A pilot-project funded by the EU and the UNDP envisions the rehabilitation of lands facing different level of degradation, and the introduction of sustainable pasture management. By November 2013, a preparatory stage was completed: for the first time a map visualizing information on vegetation types was created, together with another one showing the exact locations of sheep farms and pastures. In addition, a thorough assessment to study the livelihoods of Tush shepherds was launched, examining their socio-economic attitudes, reliance on pastures etc. Davit Dolidze of the economic department at Elkana, a biological farming association in Georgia, was engaged in the socio-economic component of the project. According to him, there is a danger that in two decades proper grassland will no longer be available in the Vashlovani Protected Area. “As sheep farmers will have to pay more for feeding the sheep, their business will become unprofitable,” he says. Georgia has never had a regulation framework for management and maintenance of pastures. One major achievement of the project will be the drafting of a Sustainable Pasture Management Plan for the protected area, to be submitted to the government in early 2015. “After 2016 it will be possible to start developing a unified policy and regulations for this field,” notes Tornike Phulariani, the UNDP project manager. Many initiatives are on the agenda, including fencing the migratory route to reduce it from the current 100 metres wide to a 50-metre area, introducing a rotational grazing system and arranging water points along the route to decrease the pressure on a wider territory. Another objective is to start registration of climate-related changes both in the air and soil: a new system will be put in place to measure not only precipitation, but also, air temperature, wind speed, and humidity of the air and soil. As a matter of fact, addressing climate change concerns is among the project’s goals. Pastures represent one of the pools to store carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. The more degraded the soil becomes, the less carbon it can store, the bigger the contribution to pollution. ”By introducing environmentally friendly approaches and helping to restore sustainable use of pastures, we are contributing to climate change mitigation” says Phulariani, noting
N A shepherd cooks in his house.
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre – Feature no. 135
Protecting shepherds to fight against climate change
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that 100 square metres with different types of vegetation have already been fenced, in order to introduce a long-term monitoring and evaluation system of grassland carbon stock calculation.
Introducing tariffs for pasture use This pilot project is part of the bigger EU-funded Clima East package – with a budget of €18 million - whose objective is to support the countries in the Eastern Neighbourhood in their climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. “To me, the core value of the Clima East pilot projects lies in the innovative, cost-effective approach of working with nature to address climate change concerns and to improve people’s livelihoods,” says Alvaro Ortega Aparicio, project manager at the EU Delegation to Georgia. As he expects, the pilot project in Georgia will demonstrate how managing “By introducing environmentally an ecosystem can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and better prepare to deal with climate change impacts. friendly A local partner and main beneficiary of the project is the Agency of Protected Areas approaches and helping to restore at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia. For Toma Dekanoidze, head of planning and development department at the agency, the key sustainable use idea is to identify “where we are now” so that pastures can then be classified. This is of pastures, we expected to establish the ground for introducing a reasonable tariff policy for using are contributing to climate change the pastures. “OK, we will pay for the territory,” says shepherd Fore Tilidze, “but there should be lighting and watering facilities, grass conditions should be checked, and mitigation” only then should the government ask to pay. Areas with different vegetation should have different costs,” he adds. Mr Dekanoidze assures that as a result of the project, an independent audit will elaborate market price per hectare to be used as a pasture. “The detailed maps will be sent to local municipalities; afterwards 5-year and 10-year deals will be made on the land use.” While the expenses of sheep owners comprise hiring a shepherd (for up to 1,200 Lari monthly) and buying grass (a box for 8 Lari), their income only includes the sales of sheep, cheese and wool products. The latter, however, has become a painful issue. “Wool gets just thrown out because it cannot even cover transport costs; in Soviet time,” says Murtazashvili, “when it was used in the military industry, wool sales would cover all our expenses.” Today, wool is used just locally in the traditional needlework for tourism purposes and in this direction, opportunities are limited because of the short span of the tourist season.
Towards a unified veterinary service Offering hiking, geological, biking, photo, cultural and educational tours, the Vashlovani Protected Area is increasingly attracting local and international tourists. Among the project’s plans is the rehabilitation of farms located in the protected areas, which is expected also to serve tourism purposes. The project will also initiate a survey to plan a unified veterinary service for Tush shepherds. According to Mr. Murtazashvili, the government finances only five types of vaccinations, while prevention of all other diseases is the responsibility of the shepherds. The vets do have the skills, he says, but need a better organizational scheme.
N Shepherds riding horses in the Vashlovani protected area.
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre – Feature no. 135
“To me, the core value of the Clima East pilot projects lies in the innovative, cost-effective approach of working with nature to address climate change concerns and to improve people’s livelihoods”
Protecting shepherds to fight against climate change
“We intend to help create a mobile group, that could be energized by encouraging students to volunteer there,” says Phulariani. “Many European countries have adopted a modern approach to rural development leading to a more competitive and sustainable agricultural sector,” says the EU’s Alvaro Ortega Aparicio, adding: “In the long run, the opportunities for success and replication of this pilot initiative will depend on the adoption of conducive polices such as the establishment of a national land registration programme.” What is already seen as a success is that the EU-UNDP project started to serve as a facilitator for a high profile forum to discuss pasture management. In the framework of the project, a regional workshop on challenges in addressing a climate change and eco-system based approach in pasture management was held during the summer in Tbilisi. “We have developed a fruitful cooperation with various stakeholders, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Economy,” says Phulariani, “and thus helped to place pasture-related issues higher on everyone’s agenda.”
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N Grazing sheep in the protected area.
Clima East Project: Sustainable Management of Pastures in Georgia www.ge.undp.org/content/georgia/en/home/operations/projects/environment_and_energy/pastures.html
The initiative aims to rehabilitate 8,700 ha of degraded pastures, and to introduce and implement sustainable pasture management practices among farmers and sheep-breeders in the Vashlovani Protected Areas Activities In the area four sites with different vegetation types have been fenced to draw out long-term pasture monitoring system. The project has initiated rehabilitation measures for the migratory route, as well as for farms and other infrastructures. The project has initiated a survey to plan a unified veterinary service for Tush shepherds. Another objective is to start registration of climaterelated changes both in the air and soil. Timeframe January 2013 – December 2016 To find out more EU Neighbourhood Info Centre thematic page: ENVIRONMENT www.enpi-info.eu/themeeast.php?subject=6 EU Neighbourhood Info Centre country page: GEORGIA www.enpi-info.eu/countryeast.php?country=59
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