The history of protected territories in Georgia dates back to the Middle Ages when the territories were used by local feudal lords for hunting. The next stage of environmental protection began in the 19th century when Georgia lost its independence and became a part of the Russian Empire. In 1862, the brother of ruling Russian Emperor Mikhail Romanoff was appointed Viceroy of the Russian Empire to Transcaucasia. He was greatly impressed by the beauty of the Borjomi Gorge and decided to build a summer residence there. In 1871, King Alexander II presented his brother with the whole of the Borjomi Gorge. Soon, Mikhail Romanoff fenced in a large part of the forest and forbade the felling of the trees and hunting without permission. After more than a century of the country’s turbulent history, the implementors of the Borjomi-Kharagauli used the territory established by Mikhail Romanoff as the basis for the first national park in the Caucasus. 1995 Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park was created with the support of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the German Government and was officially inaugurated in 2001.

First National Park in the Caucasus

Today the National Park Area covers more than 76,000 hectares, which amounts to nearly 1% of the territory of Georgia. The large area of mountainous forest has been preserved here in its pristine and virgin state. A number of endemic and relict species of flora and endangered species of fauna can be found in the forests as well as among sprawling subalpine and alpine meadows of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park.