Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, Georgia: Progress Report 2019-2020

Saving the Green Heart of Georgia

Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park (BKNP) is located in the center of the Republic of Georgia, comprising the eastern part of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains. BKNP covers 104,933 ha, more than 1.5% of the territory of Georgia. 

This park helps protect many of Georgia’s endemic plants, 60% of which are threatened. The floral diversity in Borjomi-Kharaguli National Park is due to its unique location at the border of multiple biogeographic regions: the Colchis, Central Caucasus, Asia-Minor and Near East. This is where worlds collide – the Caucasus are an ancient geological and sociocultural crossroads, created 20 million years ago when the Arabian sub-continent crumpled into Europe. 

Seventy-five percent of the park territory is covered with intact woodland, relict fragments of Colchis forests, a unique habitat that is endemic to this region and which contains a number of species found nowhere else. In fact, Colchis forests and the bogs within them are so unique that they were given a status of international importance by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

BKNP also has a diverse fauna. Here, 64 species of mammals have been recorded. Eleven of them are endemic to the Caucasus, and 8 species are on the Georgian Red List of Threatened Species. Megafauna species include red deer, chamois, roe deer, brown bear, lynx, boar, wolf, and wildcat. A number of rare and threatened animals live here too, including three bat species, five rodent species, the Caucasian black grouse, the Caucasian viper, and the chamois, an agile antelope coveted for its hide. In the park’s core wilderness area, virgin forests host many of the park’s bear, lynx, wolf, red deer and chamois.

Red deer stag caught on camera trap.

Migrating birds pass through here, sharing the air with resident species like golden eagles and griffon vultures and more than 100 species of butterfly, including the endemic and endangered Parnassius nordmanni. In total, 217 bird species either nest here or migrate through, and 13 of them are on the Georgian Red List. The park provides especially important habitat for the near threatened Caucasian grouse and the Caspian snowcock. 

Despite protection, large wildlife has continued to decline over the past ten years. Already, illegal hunting has extirpated the threatened Bezoar goat, a shaggy creature with great, back-curved horns, related to the ibex. A reintroduction program is ongoing. Only about 65 chamois remain, along with an estimated 40 lynx, 135 brown bear, and 700 endangered Caucasian red deer. 

Brown bear caught on camera trap.

Global Park Defense in Borjomi

At the invitation of the Georgian Agency for Protected Areas, Global Conservation signed a multi-year agreement in June 2018 to deploy Global Park Defense in Borjomi National Park to monitor all trails and roads used by illegal hunters and wildlife poachers. 

Global Conservation is supporting a multi-year deployment of Global Park Defense across Borjomi National Park, with five key goals:  

1. Deployment of Global Park Defense systems and improved communications for all park rangers.  
2. Achieving ‘No Cut, No Kill’ within the park by increasing arrests and fines through a new citation system.  
3. Increasing the size of Borjomi National Park by 50-100% to protect adjacent high biodiversity areas. 
4. Improving core wildlife populations by 2-3 times for endangered species within 5 years.  
5. Training of Park Rangers on Global Park Defense technologies and systems for rapid response and targeted patrolling.  

Spring brings fields of wildflowers to BKNP.

During the years of 2019-2020 Global Conservation has supported Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park to begin deployment of Global Park Defense, including the purchase of equipment and new devices.

For example, Global Conservation has helped ensure that new firearms, body cameras, and Garmin Inreach Satellite GPS Communicators were distributed. Three GPS units with satellite phone capability were also purchased. 

Garmin Inreach Satellite GPS Communicators were distributed to BKNP rangers.

Since 2018, a total of 40 cellular camera traps have been installed. These Spartan camera traps have a GSM system to send data directly to park staff. Currently, more than 50% of active camera traps in the national park were purchased by Global Conservation. All camera traps are mapped and monitored daily basis, with all photo and video data processed by rangers. 

A BKNP ranger places a cellular trailcam.

In BKNP, camera traps have two main purposes. Camera traps mainly are used to detect and identify poachers for better park protection, or to monitor key wildlife species, especially Red Listed red deer, brown bear, Eurasian lynx and chamois. In recent months, a particularly captivating photo of three brown bears foraging together was captured, and affectionately titled “The Three Musketeers”. 

"The Three Musketeers", likely a mother brown bear and her two cubs, were captured on a trailcam in BKNP.

Biodiversity monitoring data include GPS coordinates of camera traps, information about animal habitats, and metadata, which is kept in a database for analysis. One important product is the mapping of all wildlife species detected in the park. 

Red deer captured on a camera trap. Records like this are important for biodiversity monitoring.

Poachers have been actively spotted by Global Conservation camera traps in recent months. Global Conservation Spartan cameras send MMS's to rangers in real time, helping law enforcement respond immediately to poaching threats. The images are used at trial to prosecute illegal hunters, fishermen, and loggers.

Poachers caught on trailcam in BKNP.

This year, an illegal fisherman was arrested, his fishing rod confiscated, and he was fined by the court. A poacher was also apprehended, fined, and his gun confiscated.

A poacher who was fined, and his gun confiscated.

Thanks to these successful arrests and prosecutions, camera traps have become not only a way to stop illegal acitivities as they occur, but a way to deter crime before it even begins. Because of Global Park Defense, illegal activities have decreased in the last 6 months compared to the same period last year. 

Illegal activities have decreased in the first 6 months of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.

In January 2020, Global Conservation conducted an on-site review of progress in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, visiting Borjomi with colleagues from Carpathian National Park in Ukraine. Meetings were organized to share experiences and plan further partnerships between the two parks. 

Visitors from Global Conservation and Carpathian National Park, Ukraine, enjoy a hike in BKNP.

During three mission visits, Global Conservation Manager of Security and Logistics Greg Brown researched ranger priorities in the park. A special priority checklist was completed, and rangers themselves were given the opportunity to express their perspectives. This has increased ranger motivation and clarified the park's needs. The main priorities were concluded to be equipment, good quality boots, and backpacks. 

Backpacks were distributed to rangers that conduct overnight patrols.

Consequently, Global Conservation purchased 30 pairs of Salewa high-quality Goretex boots and Salewa 50L backpacks for the BKNP rangers. Park administration issued the boots to the rangers who have long patrolling routes and need higher quality footwear, and the backpacks to rangers who conduct overnight patrols.    

High-quality, waterproof hiking boots were distributed to the rangers.

Thirty smartphones were also purchased by Global Conservation for improving ranger communications, and the devices will also be used for better monitoring and mapping of wildlife in the park. 

Smart phones were among the equipment that Global Conservation distributed to BKNP rangers this year.

Since December, BKNP rangers have patrolled more than 70,000 kilometers on foot, and more than 200,000km by vehicle. More than 570 planned and unplanned patrolling raids were organized by chief rangers and administration staff. 

Some park rangers patrol BKNP on horseback.

Global Conservation is also advocating for the expansion of BKNP and development of community-based tourism. Expansion of ecotourism in the region, including development of new lodging and trails, will provide jobs and income to replace hunting and illegal logging. 

A team is working on constructing new trails in BKNP to boost tourism and deter illegal activity.

Initially, Global Conservation has financed the planning and building of a hiking trail in BKNP's Nedzvi Senctuary. The trail will promote tourism in this part of national park, and will be used to decrease pressure on the environment by locals. Research and planning has already started, and the park is organizing consultations with specialists.