Kolkheti National Park
Encyclopedia
Kolkheti National Park is a national park
located in the historical region of Colchis
in western Georgia
. It lies on a coastal plain on the Black Sea
, between the mouths of the Tikori and Supsa
and spanning the districts of Zugdidi
, Khobi
, Lanchkhuti
, Senaki
and Abasha
. The park was established during 1998 and 1999 as part of Georgia’s Integrated Coastal Management Project, which was backed financially by the World Bank
(WB) and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Kolkheti National Park covers an area of 28,940 hectares, incorporating the land of the former 500-hectare Kolkheti State Nature Reserve, which had been established in 1947, and its surrounding wetlands, including the Paleastomi Lake.
. Around 2000 BC, the first Georgian state, Kolkheti, better known as "Colchis
," was created here and was the place in which the first Georgian coinage, “Kolkhuri Tetri,” was minted. Colchis features in Greek mythology
as the rim of the world, and has been mentioned in historical chronicles across western Asia and eastern Europe since ancient times. Colchis appears in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts and his pursuit of the Golden Fleece
. Colchis was also the land where the mythological Prometheus
was punished by being chained to a mountain while an eagle ate at his liver for revealing the secret of fire to humanity. Amazons
also were said to be of Scythia
n origin from Colchis. The main mythical characters from Colchis are Aeëtes
, Medea
, Absyrtus
, Chalciope
, Eidyia
and Pasiphaë
.
The advanced economy and favorable geographical and natural conditions of the area attracted the Milesian Greeks
who colonized the Colchian coast, establishing trading posts in the area at Phasis
, Gyenos, and Sukhumi
in the 6th-5th centuries BC. These sites lay just outside the lands conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. After the demise of the Persian Empire, a significant part of Colchis became known locally as Egrisi
and was annexed to the recently created Kingdom of Iberia
(Kartli
) in ca. 302 BC. This region retained a degree of independence until conquered in ca. 101 BC by Mithridates VI of Pontus
.
The region became inhabited by a number of related but distinct tribes whose settlements lay chiefly along the shore of the Black Sea. Numbered amongst these were the Machelones
, Heniochi, Zydretae
, Lazi
, Chalybes
, Tabal
/Tibareni
/Tubal
, Mossynoeci
, Macrones
, Moschi
, Marres, Apsilae and Abasci.
During the rule of the Roman Empire, the Romans established major fortresses along the sea coast, but they found it increasingly difficult to maintain order. The lowlands and coastal area of what forms the marine area of the park today were frequently raided by the fierce mountainous tribes, with the Soanes
and Heniochi being the most powerful of them. In 69
AD, the people of Pontus and Colchis under Anicetus
staged a major uprising against the Romans, who had grown increasingly weak during this time. By the 130s, the kingdoms of Machelons, Heniochi, Egrisi
, Apsilia, Abasgia, and Sanigia had occupied the area from south to north. Goths
, dwelling in the Crimea
and looking for a new home, raided Colchis in 253, but they were repulsed with the help of the Roman garrison of Pitsunda
. By the 3rd-4th centuries, most of the local kingdoms and principalities had been subjugated by the Lazic kings, and thereafter the country was generally referred to as Lazica (Egrisi
).
authorities, especially in the 1920s to develop the economy, had a devastating impact on the wetland ecosystem and in 1947 led to a small 500-hectare reserve being established, called the Kolkheti State Nature Reserve. However, given that the surrounding wetlands contained much rich biogeographical and paleogeographical information of high importance to scientists and to Georgian national heritage, the area was granted RAMSAR
status in 1996. This led to the Kolkheti National Park being formally established as a national park between 1998 and 1999, financially supported by the World Bank
and the Global Environmental Facility.
However, shortly after the park was established, construction began in 1999 on the privately funded Kulevi Oil Terminal within the park with the aim of creating 16 tanks with a capacity of 22,000 cubic meters each, serviced by a railway that would transport up to 35 million tons of oil through the National Park. Once completed, the 100,000-ton to 150,000-ton tankers would transport the oil through the reserve out of the Black Sea. Dredging of an access channel through the marine reserve had begun, ignoring the environment agreements made by the Georgian government, the World Bank and conservationists. Local and international NGOs petitioned against the oil terminal and Green Alternative
, a Georgian NGO, were particularly active in the protests but without initial success. In the end, the construction of the Kulevi Terminal was abandoned in late 2002, reportedly because of financial reasons, but the marine area of the Kolkheti National Park still clashes with land permitted to oil and gas companies for oil exploitation, conflicting with the official designated protected area.
shore that rises some 2-3m above the coastal plain. Much of the land is peat bog and marsh, some of which form several distinct peat bogs, including Anaklia, Churia, Nabada, Imnati, Maltakva, Grigoleti and Pichori which are located on the coastal plain. In places peat layers may exceed 12 meters in thickness, the result of clay, sand, silt and peat deposits over the last 4000 to 6000 years. In some areas the marsh is indunated completely with a number of lakes including Paleastomi Lake, Patara Paleastomi Lake, Imnati Lake and Parto Tskali Lake.
The climate of Kolkheti National Park is warm and humid climate and annual temperature ranges from 1500-1600mm, relatively equal through the year. The park is subject to heavy periodical coastal winds and the coldest month, January can reach temperatures as low as 4.5 degrees celsius. During the summer it is a moderate temperature, reaching 22 degrees celsius in August on average. However in August, temperatures have been known to reach as high as 34 degrees celsius.
, several species of willow
s and oak
s and common ash.
The coastal peat bogs are the home to many types of plants including sphagnum
mosses, Drozera roxundiflora, Drosera rotundifolia
, Rhinchospora afla, Carex lasiocarpa
and Menianthes trifoliata. In the forests, evergreen undergrowth tends to grow such as Hedera colchica
and endemic species such as Quercus imeretina, Querqus chorokhensis and Quercus hartwissiana, and Alnus barbata and Pterocarya pterocarpa
are commonly found. Aquatic plants, such as Nymphaea alba
are common around much of the hydrological habitats of the park while Rhododendron flavum and Rhododendron ponticum
are known to grow away from the coast in the alpine area of Kolkheti National Park.
The swamps and wetland forests of the park contain a number of endangered species such as roe deer
, boar
, otter
and Triturus vittatus, and more recently a population of coypu
has been introduced. It is home to the Caucasian subspecies of common treefrog and lake frog and numerous types of snake, including ring snake, dice snake
, slow worm, and more rarely the Aesculapian snake
. The European marsh turtle and Artwin wood lizard are also found as are common and eastern crested newts. Several species of dolphin
s including Delphinus delphis, Tursiops truncates and Phocoena phocoena inhabit the marine habitat of the park while 194 different bird species are found in the national park, including 21 species who use the area during seasonal migration. Some of the birds endemic to the park are on the IUCN and Georgian Red Book
list because they are verging on extinction in the area, including the Black Stork
, Crane
and Great White Egret. The Great crested grebe, red– necked grebe, black– necked grebe, great cormorant, squacco heron, Eurasian spoonbill, glossy ibis, lesser white– fronted goose, ruddy shelduck, marsh sandpiper, great snipe, and a diversity of ducks, waders, coots, gulls and terns are common to the park during season and a number of white– tailed sea eagles have been recorded in the park, although these are very rare.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
located in the historical region of Colchis
Colchis
In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgian state kingdom and region in Western Georgia, which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgian nation.The Kingdom of Colchis contributed significantly to the development of medieval Georgian...
in western Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
. It lies on a coastal plain on the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, between the mouths of the Tikori and Supsa
Supsa
Supsa is a Black Sea port village in western Georgia. It is located at around .It is the terminus of the Western Early Oil pipeline from Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea oil fields....
and spanning the districts of Zugdidi
Zugdidi
Zugdidi is a city in the Western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo . It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kilometres west of Tbilisi, 30 km. from Black sea coast and 30 km. from Egrisi range. 100-110 metres above sea level. As of 2007, it had a...
, Khobi
Khobi
Khobi is a town in western Georgia with a population of 5,800 . The settlement of Abasha acquired the status of a town in 1981 and currently functions as an administrative center of the Khobi District within the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region....
, Lanchkhuti
Lanchkhuti
Lanchkhuti is a city in western Georgian region of Guria. It has a population of about 8000.Lanchkhuti received city status in 1961. Under the USSR, it was the centre of the Georgian SSR Lanchkhuti area and today continues to serve as the capital of the district of the same name within the Guria...
, Senaki
Senaki
Senaki is a town in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, western Georgia. It is located at around .From 1935 to 1976 it was called Tskhakaya in honor of the Georgian Bolshevik revolutionary leader Mikhail Tskhakaya....
and Abasha
Abasha
Abasha is a town in western Georgia with a population of 6,400 . It is situated between the rivers of Abasha and Noghela, at 23m above sea level and is located some to the west of Tbilisi. The settlement of Abasha acquired the status of a town in 1964 and currently functions as an administrative...
. The park was established during 1998 and 1999 as part of Georgia’s Integrated Coastal Management Project, which was backed financially by the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
(WB) and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). Kolkheti National Park covers an area of 28,940 hectares, incorporating the land of the former 500-hectare Kolkheti State Nature Reserve, which had been established in 1947, and its surrounding wetlands, including the Paleastomi Lake.
Ancient history of Kolkheti
Kolkheti National Park was once part of the tropical and partly subtropical zone of the Tertiary period that stretched over the continent of EurasiaEurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
. Around 2000 BC, the first Georgian state, Kolkheti, better known as "Colchis
Colchis
In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgian state kingdom and region in Western Georgia, which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgian nation.The Kingdom of Colchis contributed significantly to the development of medieval Georgian...
," was created here and was the place in which the first Georgian coinage, “Kolkhuri Tetri,” was minted. Colchis features in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
as the rim of the world, and has been mentioned in historical chronicles across western Asia and eastern Europe since ancient times. Colchis appears in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts and his pursuit of the Golden Fleece
Golden Fleece
In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece is the fleece of the gold-haired winged ram, which can be procured in Colchis. It figures in the tale of Jason and his band of Argonauts, who set out on a quest by order of King Pelias for the fleece in order to place Jason rightfully on the throne of Iolcus...
. Colchis was also the land where the mythological Prometheus
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
was punished by being chained to a mountain while an eagle ate at his liver for revealing the secret of fire to humanity. Amazons
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
also were said to be of Scythia
Scythia
In antiquity, Scythian or Scyths were terms used by the Greeks to refer to certain Iranian groups of horse-riding nomadic pastoralists who dwelt on the Pontic-Caspian steppe...
n origin from Colchis. The main mythical characters from Colchis are Aeëtes
Aeëtes
In Greek mythology, Aeëtes , , , was a King of Colchis , son of the sun-god Helios and the Oceanid Perseis , brother of Circe and Pasiphae, and father of Medea, Chalciope and Apsyrtus...
, Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
, Absyrtus
Absyrtus
Absyrtus, or Apsyrtus , was in Greek mythology the son of Aeëtes and a brother of Medea and Chalciope. His mother is variously given: Hyginus calls her Ipsia, Hesiod and Apollodorus call her Eidyia, Apollonius calls her Asterodeia, and others Neaera or Eurylyte.When Medea fled with Jason, she took...
, Chalciope
Chalciope
Chalciope , in Greek mythology, is a name that may refer to several characters.* Chalciope, daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis, sister of Medea and wife of Phrixus, by whom she had four sons: Argus, Phrontis, Melas and Cytisorus...
, Eidyia
Eidyia
In Greek mythology, Eidyia was a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, and queen to Aeetes, king of Colchis. Mother of Medea, Chalciope and Apsyrtus, she was also the youngest of the Oceanides. Some sources called her the goddess of knowledge....
and Pasiphaë
Pasiphaë
In Greek mythology, Pasiphaë , "wide-shining" was the daughter of Helios, the Sun, by the eldest of the Oceanids, Perse; Like her doublet Europa, her origins were in the East, in her case at Colchis, the palace of the Sun; she was given in marriage to King Minos of Crete. With Minos, she was the...
.
The advanced economy and favorable geographical and natural conditions of the area attracted the Milesian Greeks
Miletus
Miletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
who colonized the Colchian coast, establishing trading posts in the area at Phasis
Poti
Poti is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near the site of the ancient Greek colony of Phasis, the city has become a major port city and industrial center since the early 20th century. It is also...
, Gyenos, and Sukhumi
Sukhumi
Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.-Naming:...
in the 6th-5th centuries BC. These sites lay just outside the lands conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. After the demise of the Persian Empire, a significant part of Colchis became known locally as Egrisi
Egrisi
Lazica or Egrisi in Georgian |Georgia]], named after the Laz tribe, which at some time dominated the local ruling élite.The kingdom flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It covered part of the territory of the former kingdom Colchis and subjugated the territory of modern...
and was annexed to the recently created Kingdom of Iberia
Caucasian Iberia
Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...
(Kartli
Kartli
Kartli is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari , on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role in ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages...
) in ca. 302 BC. This region retained a degree of independence until conquered in ca. 101 BC by Mithridates VI of Pontus
Mithridates VI of Pontus
Mithridates VI or Mithradates VI Mithradates , from Old Persian Mithradatha, "gift of Mithra"; 134 BC – 63 BC, also known as Mithradates the Great and Eupator Dionysius, was king of Pontus and Armenia Minor in northern Anatolia from about 120 BC to 63 BC...
.
The region became inhabited by a number of related but distinct tribes whose settlements lay chiefly along the shore of the Black Sea. Numbered amongst these were the Machelones
Machelones
The Machelones were a Colchian tribe located to the far south of the Phasis . There are several references to them in Classical sources...
, Heniochi, Zydretae
Zydretae
The Zydretae were an ancient people of Colchis recorded by the Classical accounts as dwelling on the coast of the Pontus Euxinus , on the southern side of the Apsarus river , and between the Machelonoi and the Lazi tribes...
, Lazi
Egrisi
Lazica or Egrisi in Georgian |Georgia]], named after the Laz tribe, which at some time dominated the local ruling élite.The kingdom flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It covered part of the territory of the former kingdom Colchis and subjugated the territory of modern...
, Chalybes
Chalybes
The Chalybes or Chaldoi were a tribe of proto-Georgians. Classical Antiquity credited with the invention of ferrous metallurgy....
, Tabal
Tabal
Tabal was a Luwian speaking Neo-Hittite kingdom of South Central Anatolia. According to archaeologist Kurt Bittel, the kingdom of Tabal first appeared after the collapse of the Hittite Empire....
/Tibareni
Tibareni
The Tibareni were a people referred to in Herodotus, Xenophon, Strabo and other classical authors. In classical times, they and other related tribes, the Chalybes and the Mossynoeci, were considered the founders of metallurgy...
/Tubal
Tubal
Tubal, תובל or תבל , in Genesis 10 , was the name of a son of Japheth, son of Noah.Many authors, following the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus , related the name to Iber- Caucasian Iberia...
, Mossynoeci
Mossynoeci
Mossynoeci is a name that the Greeks of the Euxine Sea applied to the peoples of Pontus, the northern Anatolian coast west of Trebizond.-Herodotus:...
, Macrones
Macrones
The Macrones were an ancient Colchian tribe in the east of Pontus, about the Moschici Mountains .The Macrones are first mentioned by Herodotus , who relates that they, along with Moschi, Tabal, Mossynoeci, and Mares, formed the nineteenth satrapy within the Achaemenid Persian Empire and fought...
, Moschi
Meskheti
Meskheti is in a mountainous area of Moschia and is a former province in southwestern Georgia. The ancient Georgian tribes of Meskhi and Mosiniks were the indigenous population of this region. A majority of the modern Georgian population of Meskheti are descendants of these ancient tribes...
, Marres, Apsilae and Abasci.
During the rule of the Roman Empire, the Romans established major fortresses along the sea coast, but they found it increasingly difficult to maintain order. The lowlands and coastal area of what forms the marine area of the park today were frequently raided by the fierce mountainous tribes, with the Soanes
Svaneti
Svaneti is a historic province in Georgia, in the northwestern part of the country. It is inhabited by the Svans, a geographic subgroup of the Georgians.- Geography :...
and Heniochi being the most powerful of them. In 69
69
Year 69 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Rufinus...
AD, the people of Pontus and Colchis under Anicetus
Anicetus (Pontus)
Anicetus was the leader of an unsuccessful anti-Roman uprising in Polemonia in 69. Formerly a freedman of King Polemon II of Pontus, Anicetus commanded the royal fleet until Pontus was converted into a Roman province under Emperor Nero in 63...
staged a major uprising against the Romans, who had grown increasingly weak during this time. By the 130s, the kingdoms of Machelons, Heniochi, Egrisi
Egrisi
Lazica or Egrisi in Georgian |Georgia]], named after the Laz tribe, which at some time dominated the local ruling élite.The kingdom flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It covered part of the territory of the former kingdom Colchis and subjugated the territory of modern...
, Apsilia, Abasgia, and Sanigia had occupied the area from south to north. Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
, dwelling in the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
and looking for a new home, raided Colchis in 253, but they were repulsed with the help of the Roman garrison of Pitsunda
Pitsunda
Pitsunda is a resort town in Gagra district of Abkhazia.The town was founded by the Greeks in the 5th century BC as a trade colony Pityus or Pitiunt. Excavations guided by Andria Apakidze unearthed remains of three 4th-century churches and a bath with superb mosaic floors...
. By the 3rd-4th centuries, most of the local kingdoms and principalities had been subjugated by the Lazic kings, and thereafter the country was generally referred to as Lazica (Egrisi
Egrisi
Lazica or Egrisi in Georgian |Georgia]], named after the Laz tribe, which at some time dominated the local ruling élite.The kingdom flourished between the 6th century BC and the 7th century AD. It covered part of the territory of the former kingdom Colchis and subjugated the territory of modern...
).
Modern history and developments
In modern times, large-scale drainage undertaken by the SovietSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
authorities, especially in the 1920s to develop the economy, had a devastating impact on the wetland ecosystem and in 1947 led to a small 500-hectare reserve being established, called the Kolkheti State Nature Reserve. However, given that the surrounding wetlands contained much rich biogeographical and paleogeographical information of high importance to scientists and to Georgian national heritage, the area was granted RAMSAR
Ramsar
Ramsar is a city in and the capital of Ramsar County, Mazandaran Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 31,659, in 9,421 families....
status in 1996. This led to the Kolkheti National Park being formally established as a national park between 1998 and 1999, financially supported by the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
and the Global Environmental Facility.
However, shortly after the park was established, construction began in 1999 on the privately funded Kulevi Oil Terminal within the park with the aim of creating 16 tanks with a capacity of 22,000 cubic meters each, serviced by a railway that would transport up to 35 million tons of oil through the National Park. Once completed, the 100,000-ton to 150,000-ton tankers would transport the oil through the reserve out of the Black Sea. Dredging of an access channel through the marine reserve had begun, ignoring the environment agreements made by the Georgian government, the World Bank and conservationists. Local and international NGOs petitioned against the oil terminal and Green Alternative
Green Alternative
The Green Alternative is a Russian political party, founded in 1991 as a local party in Leningrad. In 2005, it reorganized in the green political movement "Green Alternative"...
, a Georgian NGO, were particularly active in the protests but without initial success. In the end, the construction of the Kulevi Terminal was abandoned in late 2002, reportedly because of financial reasons, but the marine area of the Kolkheti National Park still clashes with land permitted to oil and gas companies for oil exploitation, conflicting with the official designated protected area.
Hydrology and climate
Over half the park, 15,742 hectares, consists of wetlands. Many small stagnant rivers including the Pichori River, Kukani River, Dedabera River, Tkhorina River, Tsia River, Tsiva River, Churia River, Munchia River, Mukhurjina River and other smaller streams flow through the park mainly through flat coastal plain at an average elevation of 0-10 metres. A narrow dune ridge, some 100-200-meters-wide has developed along the Black SeaBlack Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
shore that rises some 2-3m above the coastal plain. Much of the land is peat bog and marsh, some of which form several distinct peat bogs, including Anaklia, Churia, Nabada, Imnati, Maltakva, Grigoleti and Pichori which are located on the coastal plain. In places peat layers may exceed 12 meters in thickness, the result of clay, sand, silt and peat deposits over the last 4000 to 6000 years. In some areas the marsh is indunated completely with a number of lakes including Paleastomi Lake, Patara Paleastomi Lake, Imnati Lake and Parto Tskali Lake.
The climate of Kolkheti National Park is warm and humid climate and annual temperature ranges from 1500-1600mm, relatively equal through the year. The park is subject to heavy periodical coastal winds and the coldest month, January can reach temperatures as low as 4.5 degrees celsius. During the summer it is a moderate temperature, reaching 22 degrees celsius in August on average. However in August, temperatures have been known to reach as high as 34 degrees celsius.
Flora
The climate of the park and abundance of water has resulted in a rich bioversity of flora in the coastal marshes and swamped forests and the deciduous wetland forest, is composed mostly of bearded alderAlder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
, several species of willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
s and oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
s and common ash.
Sphagnum
Sphagnum is a genus of between 151 and 350 species of mosses commonly called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires. A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog on one hand, and sphagnum peat moss or sphagnum peat on the other, the...
mosses, Drozera roxundiflora, Drosera rotundifolia
Drosera rotundifolia
Drosera rotundifolia is a species of sundew, a carnivorous plant often found in bogs, marshes and fens...
, Rhinchospora afla, Carex lasiocarpa
Carex lasiocarpa
Carex lasiocarpa is a species of sedge known by the common names slender sedge and woollyfruit sedge.-Distribution:This is an aquatic or shore plant of wet areas in mountainous areas of moderate elevation. It is found across much of North America and Eurasia...
and Menianthes trifoliata. In the forests, evergreen undergrowth tends to grow such as Hedera colchica
Hedera colchica
Hedera colchica is a species of Ivy which is native to Near and Middle East. Its common name is the persian Ivy. It is an evergreen climbing plant, growing to 30 m high where suitable surfaces are available, and also growing as ground cover where there are no vertical surfaces...
and endemic species such as Quercus imeretina, Querqus chorokhensis and Quercus hartwissiana, and Alnus barbata and Pterocarya pterocarpa
Pterocarya pterocarpa
Pterocarya fraxinifolia is a species of tree in the Juglandaceae family. It is commonly known as the Caucasian wingnut or Caucasian walnut. It is native to the Caucasian region Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russia, the Ukraine and Turkey. It was introduced to France in 1784, and to Great...
are commonly found. Aquatic plants, such as Nymphaea alba
Nymphaea alba
Nymphaea alba, also known as the European White Waterlily, White Lotus, or Nenuphar, is an aquatic flowering plant of the family Nymphaeaceae....
are common around much of the hydrological habitats of the park while Rhododendron flavum and Rhododendron ponticum
Rhododendron ponticum
Rhododendron ponticum, called Common Rhododendron or Pontic Rhododendron, is a species of Rhododendron native to southern Europe and southwest Asia.-Description:...
are known to grow away from the coast in the alpine area of Kolkheti National Park.
Fauna
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...
, boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
, otter
Otter
The Otters are twelve species of semi-aquatic mammals which feed on fish and shellfish, and also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals....
and Triturus vittatus, and more recently a population of coypu
Coypu
The coypu , , also known as the river rat, and nutria, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent and the only member of the family Myocastoridae. Originally native to subtropical and temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, primarily by...
has been introduced. It is home to the Caucasian subspecies of common treefrog and lake frog and numerous types of snake, including ring snake, dice snake
Dice snake
The dice snake is a European nonvenomous snake belonging to the family Colubridae, subfamily Natricinae.- Brief description :...
, slow worm, and more rarely the Aesculapian snake
Aesculapian Snake
The Aesculapian Snake is a nonvenomous snake native to Europe.-Description:They hatch at around 30 cm and average at around 110 cm but can grow up to 200 cm . They are dark, long, slender, and shiny...
. The European marsh turtle and Artwin wood lizard are also found as are common and eastern crested newts. Several species of dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s including Delphinus delphis, Tursiops truncates and Phocoena phocoena inhabit the marine habitat of the park while 194 different bird species are found in the national park, including 21 species who use the area during seasonal migration. Some of the birds endemic to the park are on the IUCN and Georgian Red Book
Red Book
Red Book, Redbooks, Little Red Book or Big Red Book may refer to:- Political or ideological pamphlets :* The Little Red Book, the name commonly known in the West for the pocket-size edition of Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung...
list because they are verging on extinction in the area, including the Black Stork
Black Stork
The Black Stork Ciconia nigra is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It is a widespread, but rare, species that breeds in the warmer parts of Europe, predominantly in central and eastern regions. This is a shy and wary species, unlike the closely related White Stork. It is seen in...
, Crane
Crane (bird)
Cranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the order Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...
and Great White Egret. The Great crested grebe, red– necked grebe, black– necked grebe, great cormorant, squacco heron, Eurasian spoonbill, glossy ibis, lesser white– fronted goose, ruddy shelduck, marsh sandpiper, great snipe, and a diversity of ducks, waders, coots, gulls and terns are common to the park during season and a number of white– tailed sea eagles have been recorded in the park, although these are very rare.