The International Convention on Biodiversity was signed by Georgia in 1994, and in the same year
a team was established to carry out the first <B>Biodiversity Country Study</B>, an overview of the
existing situation concerning biological diversity and the sustainable use of natural resources.  The
<B>Noah’s Ark Centre for the Recovery of Endangered Species
<A HREF="../../institut/ngo/list.htm#NACRES">(NACRES)</A></B> an NGO which had
worked closely with the Ministry of Environmental Protection over the preceding years, after
Georgian independence, was named as implementing organization.	The UNEP Biodiversity &
Biotechnology Office in Nairobi funded the first Biodiversity Country Study in Tbilisi which began
gathering the Scientific Data necessary on which to base further policy in 1995. The Black Sea
Biodiversity Program was also underway and the <B>Worldwide Fund for Nature
<A HREF="../../institut/ngo/list.htm#WWF"> (WWF)</A></B> had been
working in the field of Protected Areas since independence to establish a program of national
protected areas.  The CITES agreement has been nominally accepted and is expected to be ratified
in Spring, 1996.
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