Guria Coastal Region

CASE description

Guria Coastal Region is located along the Black Sea coast of Georgia, spreading approx. 21.5 km from River Natanebi to the southern edge of the city of Poti. Two main landscape types are the coastal plains, dominated by agriculture, which are characterised by flat, open landscapes with distant views of the Caucasus Mountains, and foothills of the Lesser Caucasus. In the area from River Natanebi to River Supsa is present an important cluster of tourism activities (Ureki resort with its black sand beaches). Within this area, the British Petroleum controls Supsa oil terminal with 4 x 40,000 m3 storage capacity. Construction of a new Supsa port and related infrastructure was recently approved in the same area. The coastal substrata here is comprised of coarse to fine sands. The coastline just south of Poti is relatively undeveloped, while Grigoleti and Shekvetili settlements contain uncontrolled dacha (summer house) developments.

ICZM phase

Establishment

British Petroleum Terminal in the river Supsa area (Photo: Patrick Breslin)

Main coastal issues

- Bathing water quality and beach litter

- Weak quality of EIA process in coastal development projects, such as new Supsa port

- Inadequate erosion control

- Habitat loss

Objectives

- Development of coastal management tools

- Improvement of erosion control and watershed management

Coastal wetlands patches close to the proposed Supsa port development area (Photo: Patrick Breslin)

End Products

Application of ICZM indicators - SDI - Change detection

Tools foreseen to be developed and used

ndicators - LEAC - Participatory methods - SDI

Other tools to be applied

EIA - Remote sensing - Watershed modelling

Training needs

Indicators - LEAC - Participatory methods

CASE Responsibles

Mamuka Gvilava - Black Sea Commission Permanent Secretariat (BSC PS) - email: MGvilava@ICZM.ge

Amiran Gigineishvili - Georgia CASE Coordinator - email: lanchkhuti@civitas.ge