Lagodekhi is an IUCN Green List candidate as the World Commission on Protected Areas meets in Georgia
Georgia’s oldest protected area is hosting the steering committee of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas for a week. Lagodekhi is a candidate for both the Green List and the European Diploma.
At a glance
- Published
- 17 October 2026
- Place
- Kakheti
In this article · 4 sections
A week-long meeting has opened in Lagodekhi Protected Areas: the steering committee of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) is gathering there with about 30 international experts and commission members. Founded in 1912, Lagodekhi is Georgia’s oldest protected area. It is now a candidate for two international awards: the IUCN Green List and the Council of Europe’s European Diploma.
What is happening in Lagodekhi?
For one week, Lagodekhi Protected Areas are hosting the steering committee of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA). About 30 international experts and commission members are taking part. At the opening, Tamar Khakhishvili, deputy chair of the Agency of Protected Areas, presented Georgia’s protected-area system and how it is managed, with particular attention to Lagodekhi’s international importance.
The WCPA is a global network of experts on protected and conserved areas. It has more than 3,200 members from about 140 countries. The commission advises policymakers and helps build capacity and investment for protected areas. A meeting like this shows the experts Georgia’s management practice on the ground and gives state agencies a chance to present their view of the long-term development of the protected-area system.
Two candidacies
Lagodekhi was founded in 1912 and is Georgia’s oldest protected area. It is now a candidate for two international awards.
The IUCN Green List. This IUCN programme assesses effective and inclusive conservation in protected and conserved areas against a global standard. Lagodekhi is still at the candidate stage.
The European Diploma. The Council of Europe has awarded it since 1965 to natural and semi-natural areas of European importance. The diploma is granted for five years and can be renewed.
Lagodekhi in this atlas
Lagodekhi is in Kakheti and appears on many atlas pages, as a range locality or as the place a photo was taken.
The high mountains are home to the East Caucasian tur. The photos on its profile, including this article’s main image, were taken in Lagodekhi. So were a red deer fawn and, in April 2026, a bearded vulture.
Among amphibians, the northern banded newt occurs sporadically in eastern Georgia, as far as Telavi and Lagodekhi, and lives in the Lagodekhi protected area. Georgian localities of the Caucasian parsley frog reach along the southern slope of the Caucasus from Barisakho to Lagodekhi. Among reptiles, public observations of the Urartian ratsnake include Lagodekhi Municipality.
What remains unclear?
Dates. The report gives no exact start or end date for the meeting, only that it lasts a week.
Timing. The source does not say when decisions on the Green List or the European Diploma are expected, or whether this meeting is part of those assessments.
Area. The report does not give the size of Lagodekhi Protected Areas or any new management plans.
Other stories on Georgia’s protected areas are in the news.
