During the New Year period, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture increased surveillance on cutting and transporting coniferous plants. Celebrities have joined the “Don’t Cut the Christmas Tree” campaign by the National Forestry Agency and are encouraging people to use artificial trees for the holidays.

Cutting, transporting, and selling conifers illegally can result in a fine of up to 2,000 GEL for the first offense and 5,000 GEL for repeated offenses. In addition, the offender will be responsible for paying for any damages caused to the environment. If the cost of the damages exceeds 1,000 GEL, the offender will be held criminally liable.

Conifers can be harvested legally from nurseries, plantations, homesteads, or imported. To sell legally harvested trees and plants, the owner must provide a proper document confirming their legal ownership. If a coniferous plant is obtained from a privately owned plot of land or an artificially grown nursery, a certificate of origin issued by the local municipality is mandatory for plant transportation.