Along with general recommendations, there are as well a number of specific ones that should be considered due to their importance, and which require prompt responses. These recommendations may be seen as proposals for specific projects directed at improving the study of the state and trends of the Caucasus environment. Implementation of these recommendations would, without any doubt, greatly contribute to the improvement of environmental protection activities for the Caucasus as a whole.

1. Creation of a common GIS and information retrieval system for the Caucasus. Presently, GIS development is being carried out in all Caucasus states. However, the countries are applying different methodologies and in varying degrees of detail. Therefore, the elaboration of a common GIS protocols seems particularly urgent, and would assist in providing continuous monitoring of the state of the Caucasus environment. The creation of a common GIS for the entire Caucasus region is therefore highly recommended.
2. Study of the effects of armed conflicts and natural disasters on the Caucasus environment. Both are very important driving forces for the Caucasus environment. On the one hand, it is necessary to study their direct impacts (effects of bombardments, forest fires, landslides, avalanches, etc), and on the other hand, their indirect effects (consequences related to refugee flows and internally displaced persons).
3. Study of new “hot-spots” and creation of a current environmental atlas of the Caucasus. New “hot-spots” have appeared in the Caucasus caused by local concentrations of environmental pollution in these areas. These “hot-spots” should be identified and mapped, and environmental maps or even an environmental atlas should be produced showing the present state of the Caucasus environment.
4. Carrying capacity of landscapes. One current complex and interesting issue is the carrying capacity of landscapes; i.e., what is the maximum population, and what intensity of economic activities, can the natural environment of a given region endure. It is well-known that the dramatic consequences of the heavy precipitation in Ajara in 1989 were connected not only with natural processes, but also with the over-population in the mountainous areas there.
5. Elaboration of a common network of protected areas. The difference should be drawn between the notion of a network or set of protected areas and a more complex and nested system of protected areas comprised of different hierarchical categories. In this respect, the existing categorisation in a number of Caucasian states (preserve – national park – order or “zakaznik”) is no longer up-to-date. New designations such as “protected landscape”, “natural monument”, “multi-purpose use area” (and other units if possible) should be brought into a single unified system, which would create a common, inter-related infrastructure of Caucasus protected areas. This connection should in particular also be carried out with the help of ecological corridors, thus enabling fauna (and flora) to move freely between and within the various protected areas of the Caucasus.
6. Conducting an inventory and assessment of the Caucasus landscape and biological diversity, and developing a Caucasus “Red Book”, including unique landscapes and flora and fauna requiring conservation and protection:

• Designing, mapping and developing a database on pristine and relatively unchanged landscapes of the Caucasus. Thus far, few if any data are available on pristine landscape areas. It is necessary to define and carry out an inventory of these areas, and assess the potential dangers of their loss and degradation.
• Studying biological and landscape diversity within the protected area’s network. The inventory and assessment of individual flora and fauna species, as well as ecosystems and landscapes, should be performed within the defined protected areas. Databases and GIS for protected areas also ought to be established.
• Performing a detailed landscape and environmental assessment of areas where intense forest cutting is expected. The World Bank Forestry Development Project is expected to result in increased harvesting. It is important to ensure that these activities do not lead to serious or even minor landscape degradation. Therefore, proposed harvesting areas should be inspected in terms of potential environmental consequences. Areas with fragile or unstable landscapes should be excluded from active forest exploitation.

7. Deserted areas, de-population, demographic decline ~ self-recovery of ecosystems and natural landscapes. Contrary to the global trend of population growth, in a number of areas of the Caucasus, de-population has become the dominant phenomenon over the last ten years. This is accompanied by specific processes of “abandonment” of these areas. Such processes are clearly seen in Racha, e.g., where the population (compared to the beginning of the 20^th century) has declined by a factor of six, and many areas previously covered with vineyards and orchards are at present covered with thick pine forests or brushwood. Similar processes are observed in Abkhazia and Karabakh, where armed conflicts and consequent streams of refugees have resulted in vast abandoned areas.
8. Conducting an inventory of historical and natural heritage, since the Caucasus has a very rich historical and natural heritage, which are closely inter-related.
9. Raising public awareness about and participation in environmental matters, and improving the current level of enforcement of environmental legislation, should also be Caucasus regional priorities. This could be done, inter alia, through the greater involvement of existing civil society institutions such as the Regional Environmental Centres (REC) for the Caucasus and Russian Federation.
10. Poverty in the Caucasus and its linkages to environmental problems. During the Soviet era, the Caucasus was one of the best-developed and flourishing regions of the Soviet Union. Since 1990, the situation has significantly changed, with over half of the population currently living below the poverty line. It would thus be interesting to study how poverty influences the use of natural resources and impacts on the state of the environment.
11. Study of how finances already invested contribute to improving the Caucasus state of environment, since significant funds have already been invested in environmental activities. For example, over the last ten years a considerable amount of money (over US $10 million) has been invested for the creation of Borjomi-Kharagauli and Kolkheti National Parks and their adjacent territories. It would be most interesting to study how these investments have improved the state of the environment there, what the effects have been and how these have occurred.
12. Transition from regional to local level. A deepening of the GEO process could involve a transition from the global to a sub-regional level. This first CEO report was conducted at a regional level. However, more detailed research, including a transition from the regional to a local level (i.e., individual administrative districts and even communities (selsovets) may hold additional interest for better understanding the underlying driving forces of environmental change. This level of analysis in turn would offer the basis for an interesting local-to-regional synthesis, and help to clarify the impact of local peculiarities on the development of regional and global processes and trends.
13. Impact of TRACECA, pipelines and new industrial infrastructures on the environment. The Caucasus during the Soviet era was an isolated region, totally cut-off from neighbouring countries and having no transport communications. At present, the situation has fundamentally changed, with the Caucasus as a transport corridor attracting growing interest. The study of the impact of this corridor on the environment, as well as of new industrial infrastructures, would be of great interest.
14. Finally, assuring the sustainability of the CEO process by establishing a regional centre, or strengthening an existing one, for this purpose. Such a centre could take on the role of supervising/implementing the ongoing CEO reporting process, and/or the responsibility for seeing recommendations suggested in the CEO are moving forward and being implemented in the Caucasus region.

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