Opinion | Local voices were ignored in the auctioning of Racha's forests, 9 September 2022

Residents of Racha discovered that forests covering almost a third of their region had been auctioned off to a private owner only after the deal had been closed. Those who depend on the forest for their livelihoods fear the consequences of the lease.

Racha has long been known for its lushly forested mountains, home to a range of endangered species and protected by the pan-European Bern Convention. Those forests have also long been central to the lives of people living in one of Georgia’s poorest regions.

But in April of this year, a media investigation revealed that the Georgian National Environment Agency had auctioned off 1,000 square kilometres of the forests, issuing a 49-year license to a company planning to establish a game farm and hunting area on the territory...