Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia along with Agency of Protected Areas, Administration State Representative and volunteers have been tasked with cleaning up the highest mountain trail of Georgia, littered with garbage from decades. The trail and especially Meteorological station have suffered increasing pollution, with climbers leaving behind not only garbage, but also damaged tents and human excrement.
The awesome mission has run for couple of days. Diligent Georgian Rangers team have experienced being in minus degrees and collected 20 tons of garbage including cans and bottles, plastic and discarded climbing gear. The complications are even more exacerbated with difficulty to access the station – mountainous landscape at 3 653 meters above sea level make it practically impossible to remove garbage without helicopters.
“Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and the subordinated structures recognize the responsibility to protect and conserve the nature, keep the landscapes clean. Having faced difficulty to collect garbage systematically, I would like to encourage tourists, especially visitors of Protected Areas to be more responsible and contribute to maintaining territories clean,” said Iuri Nozadze, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia after participation in cleaning mission.
Valerian Mchedlidze, Chairman of the Agency, expressed his gratitude to the rangers for their hard work and awarded them with cash prizes and Certificates of appreciation.
Meteorological station is the starting point for hundreds of mountaineers trying their luck on the 5,054-meter peak of Mkinvartsveri – Georgian “Glacier Peak” and “Freezing Cold Peak”.
Maia Tsignadze
Georgian Ranger Association
