A series of recent ICFJ workshops in the Caucasus gave local journalists the opportunity to delve into environmental issues such as timber land and wildlife conservation – and the chance to quiz previously inaccessible government officials.

By Rob Taylor
Director, ICFJ Science & Environment Programs

Georgian Journalists Challenge Government Officials on Forest Leases
“When a guy goes to buy a car, he checks the car and then agrees on a price,” said a World Bank official. But in Georgia, he said, the government is asking timber companies to lease timber lands without an inventory of the trees.

So how, he asked, can the buyer and seller set the price? “There’s no inventory, no car!” he exclaimed.

The spirited question was one of many thrown at Georgian forestry officials May 11 at a panel discussion in Tbilisi sponsored by ICFJ. The forum at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs focused on government plans to start issuing 20-year leases of timberland. Plans called for leasing to begin before the government does timber inventories, forest classification and long-term planning.

Representing the Georgian government were Giorgi Tskhakaia, head of the licenses and permits department, and Gocha Giginieshvili, deputy head of the forestry department. They endured criticism of the forestry policy from Ilia Osepashvili of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and especially the two representatives of CEE Bankwatch and the Green Alternative, Manana Kochladze and Irakli Macharashvili.

Media attending included Reso Getiashvili of the newspaper Akhali Versia and representatives of the television station Mze, Rustavi 2 and Imedi television. Television coverage was hampered by the government’s insistence that no cameras be present. Several journalism students from the journalism school at Georgia Institute of Public Affairs also attended.

The World Bank was represented by Ilia Kvitaishvili, who helped by translating and cooling the tumult when exchanges got hot. Though the officials conceded that their planning for timber auctions has some shortcomings, they expressed determination to go ahead.

Zagatala Workshop and Field Trips in Azerbaijan
ICFJ brought together journalists from three countries for a workshop and field trips on wildlife conservation issues in Azerbaijan May 14-21.

The workshop in Zagatala May 14-18 included journalists and speakers from Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and much discussion spanned their national borders. Aside from writing exercises, the program featured talks by experts on Azerbaijan’s geological history, rare species, forestry, Caspian fish and birds. WWF’s Azerbaijan country director Elshad Askerov explained the conservation strategy in Azerbaijan and the entire Caucasus eco-region. From neighboring countries came one speaker on the history of Georgia’s Lagodekhi Reserve and another on conservation challenges in Dagestan, a Russian republic.

The group made a field trip to the Zagatala Reserve headquarters and museum, where journalists interviewed the reserve director, Chakhiev Gadji and other officials. Heavy rains made it impractical to enter the reserve, so we visited instead a Georgian church and the Ilisu Reserve and a nearby waterfall.

After the workshop the Georgians returned home by car and we transported the other participants back to Baku. ICFJ trainer Gesine Dornblueth arranged an interview in Baku with Gila Altmann, head advisor of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, and Susann Gomert, an ecotourism expert. And on May 20 and 21, Dornblueth, local trainer Gulnaz Guliyeva and Elchin Sardarov of Saniya, a Baku-based environmental and social welfare non-governmental organization, led a field trip for a group of journalists to Nabran, a lake near the Dagestan border, and to interview Shaghdag National Park planners in Gusar.Local partners for the program were Saniya and the Caucasus Center for Journalists.

Azerbaijan Celebration of Tourism and Culture

The Ministry of Tourism and Culture held a celebration at our hotel in Zagatala, featuring dancing by elegantly dressed youths.

Armenia

In Armenia, ICFJ’s Dornblueth led a field trip for a minivan full of local journalists to Lake Sevan. WWF’s Karen Manvelyan provided insights into the region’s conservation challenges. Journalists interviewed rangers, fishermen, and other people around the lake, where overfishing and lakeshore development have become issues of consequence.

Sponsorship
This program is sponsored by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), a joint venture of the MacArthur Foundation, the government of Japan, the World Bank’s Global Environment Facility, and Conservation International. CEPF in the Caucasus region describes its mission in these words:

Nature does not recognize borders. We work in five countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and Turkey, that together make up the Caucasus eco-region – the most diverse region in Europe.

We are dedicated to saving species, sites and corridors of the Caucasus. We do this via leading civil society efforts for sustainable development.

We all feel part of one puzzle/chain. Each of our actions is vital to save the precious nature of the Caucasus.