Dighomi Meadows: Stadium construction threatens Tbilisi Otter Island Emerald Network Site and violates Bern ConventionDighomi Meadows

The Government of Georgia and Tbilisi City Municipality have repeatedly violated their obligations under Articles 4 and 6 of the Bern Convention regarding the Emerald Network-protected area (PA) – Tbilisi Otter Island (GE0000048), by neglecting the surrounding territory, permitting illegal resource extraction, tolerating the years-long construction waste dumping, refusing to clear it, and ultimately by subdividing the land and sanctioning stadium construction. Dighomi Meadows, Tbilisi’s last surviving riparian floodplain forest, covers ~190ha on the right bank of the Mtkvari (Kura) River (up to 70 ha historically consisting of riparian forest), along a bird migration route. It surrounds and sustains 12,8ha Tbilisi Otter Island (See Annex 1). Since 2015, unregulated rock extraction, on-site processing and illegal waste dumping, largely unaddressed by authorities despite repeated notifications, have degraded the area (See Annex 2). By 2024 only ~8ha of original forest remained. The most recent threat is a stadium built 400-450 meters from Otter Island, within the Meadows, approved through a rushed, formalistic administrative process that ignored the ecological significance of the PA and the Meadows itself (see Annex 3). A private developer’s interest in June 2025 triggered rapid land transfer, rezoning, and a 20-year lease for a stadium. Construction began in February 2026 and had already exceeded its permitted boundary by May 2026, dumping waste into protected turtle and bird habitat and destroying ~9,000 m² of extra vegetation (Violation of Article 6). Administrative decisions concerning the stadium’s construction directly contradict existing national policy documents on the protection of the Dighomi floodplain: The Otter Island Management Plan calls for extending the Emerald Network site’s boundary to incorporate the remaining riverbank floodplain forest, since the island alone cannot sustain its dependent species without the adjoining forest fragments. It also calls for granting the Dighomi floodplain “protected forest” status under the Forest Code, citing nationally red-listed tree species (Ulmus minor, Juglans regia, Acer ibericum) and the dominant floodplain poplar (Populus canescens) (pp.31–32). The Floodplain Rehabilitation Strategy calls for barring any further fragmentation and construction unless essential and expert-recommended (p.53). The Guidelines for Managing Forest Habitats on Georgia’s Emerald Sites recommend delineating core conservation areas and buffer zones for habitat protection (p.26). We urge the Standing Committee of Bern Convention to ensure that the Georgian Government and Tbilisi Municipality immediately take measures to halt construction and prevent any further development in the Meadows, commence its restoration in accordance with the Restoration Strategy, and approve and implement the Emerald Site Management Plan. We also urge the Committee to engage with the Asian Development Bank, which has financed the Rehabilitation Strategy, to ensure restoration efforts in alignment with the two sites protection requirements and the ADB-funded strategy.