State audit: Georgia’s Red List has not been updated since 2006
According to the State Audit Office, the Red List was not updated within the 10-year period set by law. In 2014 it was re-approved without a single species being changed.
On 8 June 2026 the State Audit Office of Georgia published a report on the species protected by the Red List. The auditors found that the list, compiled in 2006, was not updated within the 10-year period required by law, and that the country has no single standard for biodiversity monitoring. Two birds show what this means for species.
What did the audit find?
The State Audit Office assessed what the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, the Agency of Protected Areas and the National Wildlife Agency did to protect Red List species in 2020–2024. The main finding concerns the list itself: the Red List compiled in 2006 was not updated within the 10-year period set by law. It was re-approved in 2014, but no species was added or removed and no status changed. Only the approval procedure changed.
According to the report, the 2014 list contains 139 animal species and 56 species of woody plants. A large share of them are classified as Endangered or Critically Endangered, and five species were lost in the 20th century. Georgia’s National Biodiversity Strategy for 2014–2020 also included updating the list, but this task was not completed on time and remains open in 2026.
Why is the list not being updated?
The auditors found that the update process is not systematically organised or strategically planned. The ministry does not lead the process, and none of the four approaches used in international practice has been chosen. The report warns that, under these conditions, the list may not reflect the real state of species, which limits the planning of environmental decisions.
The second part of the problem is data. Data on species, habitats and ecosystems are not collected systematically across the country. The ministry and the Agency of Protected Areas collect data with different methods, and there is no single minimum standard.
What does this mean for species?
The effect of an outdated list shows in individual species. Georgia’s 2024 scientific bird checklist assesses some species differently from the 2014 legal list. Only the list, however, carries legal force.
The Egyptian Vulture is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the 2014 list. The 2024 scientific assessment rates it Endangered (EN) in Georgia, meaning its situation is worse than the list records. The Bearded Vulture is also VU on the list, while the 2024 checklist rates it NT for Georgia.
In both cases the new assessment does not change the official entry automatically. To change the legal status, the list has to be updated; until then, on paper, the species keeps its 2006 picture.
The list still works
The outdated list is still law. The Javelin Sand Boa, for example, is Vulnerable on the 2014 list because in Georgia it lives in small, isolated patches. Taking it from the wild is restricted by law. If you meet one, do not pick it up and leave it where it is.
What does the audit recommend?
The report makes three recommendations. First, the ministry should lead the update and set the project budget, the rights and duties of the parties and data quality control. Second, it should choose one of the four international approaches according to its financial and scientific capacity. Third, the ministry and the Agency of Protected Areas should jointly develop a systematic data collection model to support future updates of the list.
Neighbouring Armenia is also working on an update of its Red Book of Animals, which we covered in October. In Georgia’s list, the species and their statuses have not changed since 2006, even though the law requires an update every 10 years.
