News facts
Firefighters at the Borjomi-Kharagauli fire station - Photo credit: UN CTCN-Miranda Rikki Tasker
In the heart of the Caucasus, one of the world’s great biodiversity hotspots, Georgia’s Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, stretches across high ridges and deep valleys. More than half the park is uninterrupted woodland - pine, beech, oak, and spruce. These trees hold the soil in place, cool the air and shelter endangered wildlife like the Caucasian lynx. Forests, which cover 40 percent of Georgia, underpin rural life and the local economy.
But these landscapes are drying. As climate change intensifies, summers stretch longer and winds hit the slopes harder. This means fires now spark more easily and spread faster, leaving charred hillsides behind and forcing communities to confront the sudden danger to their homes and way of life.
“A small fire can turn into a major natural disaster,” warns Davit Kobakhidze, head of the Division of Biodiversity and Conservation. “Fires can have a critical impact on biodiversity, habitats and lead to irreversible consequences.”
Until recently, there was no reliable way to see these fires as they began, no early alert, no real-time monitoring, only the hope that someone spotted smoke on the horizon.
In just hours, flames can erase centuries of growth. And the damage does not end when the fire is out: erosion, soil loss, and long-term degradation scar the economy and ecosystems. In Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, where more than 42,000 hectares of forest blanket the slopes, late detection of fires has been devastating.
Between 2007 and 2021, over 600 recorded fires burned around 7,244 hectares of forest, the size of around 10,000 football fields. Some years have been especially severe. In 2017, a large blaze in Borjomi municipality burnt about 943 hectares of forest, showing how quickly a spark can turn into a national concern.
Dali Mamasakhlisashvili, a livestock farmer, remembers one blaze all too clearly: “It started with a lightning strike. I saw the flames. The fire wasn’t contained until the third day. Everyone joined, children, women, outsiders, to help stop it.”
For residents like Dali, the forest is part of daily survival. Around 50 percent of Borjomi-Kharagauli’s forests are designated as traditional use zones, where the communities can graze cattle, collect fuelwood, keep bees, and harvest mushrooms, herbs and medicinal plants.
“We are farmers, we keep livestock, and timely fire prevention will have a direct impact on our economy, our animals. Without forests, we would not be able to raise livestock or even survive,” warns Dali’s husband, Zurab Mamasakhlisashvili.
With tourism in Borjomi-Kharagauli bringing dozens of thousands of visitors each year, tourism workers feel the same urgency. “Tourists come to our village to experience our unique nature and environment,” says Nika Tabagari, a young guesthouse owner. When fires strike, fear spreads quickly: “We were very scared when the fire broke out.”
These forests are also a vital watershed, feeding dozens of natural springs, including one that supplies the Borjomi-brand mineral water, popular throughout Eastern Europe. The same springs supply clean tap water to surrounding towns.
For the firefighters on the frontlines, the days where these forest fires burn stay with them. “The most painful moment for firefighters and rescuers is seeing, before your eyes, the destruction of these beautiful places,” recalls firefighter Irakli Metreveli.
Firefighter and his family in the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Photo credit: UN CTCN/Miranda Rikki Tasker
To stop fires before they spread, Georgia has turned to innovative new technologies. With support from the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), together with the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA) and the International Business and Economic Development Center (IBEDC), solar-powered cameras now stand guard on mountain peaks, scanning the forest 360° day and night. Linked by satellite to Georgia’s Emergency Situations Service and the National Environmental Protection Agency, the system uses artificial intelligence to detect even a faint wisp of smoke and send alerts within seconds.
Solar powered cameras standing guard on mountain peak in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Photo credit: UN CTCN/Miranda Rikki Tasker
Once an alert appears on the digital map, firefighters are dispatched straight to the marked location. For places too remote or rugged to reach by foot, long-range drones with autopilot capabilities take over, patrolling the forests where fires often start unnoticed. A centralized mapping platform ties all of this together, giving responders a real-time picture of the landscape, and time to act before the flames spread.
“The system operates 24/7, continuously monitoring for smoke,” explains Metreveli, the firefighter. “When the system detects smoke, it sends an SMS notification to firefighters. If confirmed as a real fire, immediate response measures are taken.”
Speed is everything. “The main negative side of all the fires was that they were discovered late,” says Levan Sabanidze, Director of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park Administration. “If they had been discovered in time, of course these fires would not have caused the great damage. Therefore, the early detection system is of great importance.”
National authorities see the pilot as the first step toward country-wide transformation. “Georgia is already feeling the effects of climate change, from increased temperatures and extreme weather events,” says Masho Khakhnelidze, Head of the Climate Change Division at Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture. “Early detection saves time, and in fire management, time saves lives.”
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Photo credit: UN CTCN/Miranda Rikki Tasker