IMCG 2008 Field Symposium in Georgia and Armenia

The Biennial IMCG meetings will be held in Georgia and Armenia from 31 August – 16 September 2008.
The IMCG Field Symposium will be held from 31 August - 13 September. The theme will be ‘Mires and peatlands of Kolkheti lowland and highlands in
Georgia and peatlands in Armenia’. A preliminary schedule can be found in this Newsletter, a detailed programme under: www.imcg.net/2008/georgia.htm The IMCG Scientific Congress will be held from 14-15 September 2008 with scientific presentations on peatland biodiversity, conservation and wise use, and climate change.
Venue: Kobuleti, Ajara, Georgia.
Following the Congress, there will be the IMCG General Assembly on 16 September 2008, also held in Kobuleti, Ajara, Georgia.

georgia

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Travel information Georgia

Arrival and departure

We will start the field symposium in Tbilisi (Georgia) on August 31 and end all meetings in Kobuleti (near Batumi, Georgia) around noon on September 16. Entrance to Georgia is possible by land, air and sea. There are international airports in Tbilisi and Batumi. Another convenient airport is Trabzon in Turkey with easy bus transport to and from Batumi (from where trains to Tbilisi can be taken).
An option is also to join us in Armenia in the early beginning of our trip September) by flying to Yerevan.
If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask!
Please inform us about your arrival time and place, so that we can arrange you transportation to the venue.

Visa

Citizens of the following countries (with IMCG members) do NOT need a visa for Georgia: All countries of the European Union, Armenia, Belarus,
Canada, Israel, Japan, Moldova, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States of America.
Citizens of all other countries can obtain visas at Georgian embassies (consulates) or at every frontierpost, airport, and sea terminal. The costs (appr. 10-20 USD) depend on the duration of the stay.
For further information on visa matters please visit the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.
Participants, who need an invitation, have to contact the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
The contact person is Gia Kolbini (e-mail: gmep@access.sanet.ge) and cc to Izolda Matchutadze (email: tchaobi@yahoo.com)
ATTENTION
Take care, the validity of your passport should exceed the term of validity of the visa at least three months!
You need a two-entry visa for Georgia and a single entry one for Armenia.
Citizens of following countries (with IMCG Members) do NOT need a visa for Armenia:
Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russian Federation, and Ukraine. Generally for most nations it is not difficult to obtain visa just on the border. Anyway, it is better to have visa in your passport already before, as this will save considerable time while crossing the border.
Single entry visa costs 15,000 Armenian Drams or around 36 USD. For people arriving at Yerevan Airport also electronic visa application is possible:
www.armeniaforeignministry.am/eVisa/
For further information on visa matters please visit www.armeniaforeignministry.com
That site also hosts a list of Armenian embassies and consulates abroad.

Currency

There are numerous banks and exchange offices in the region. In cities also bank automats functioning with common bank cards are available (maestro,
Master, Visa), in bigger cities like Tbilisi and Yerevan also EC and American Express.

Travel information Armenia

Visa

While traveling in Armenia you need to have a visa to enter except citizens of those countries, which have the visa-free regime: Byelorussia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
You can open visas at Armenian embassies (consulates) abroad or at every frontier-posts and airport. Participants from the countries mentioned in the Table below, will need invitation to enter Armenia. Please contact Karen Jenderedjian (e-mail: jender@arminco.com).

Table. List of countries nationals of which could apply for visitor visa with invitation only:
Afghanistan Comoros Guinea-Bissau Morocco Sudan
Algeria Congo Republic  India Mozambique Suriname
Angola Côte d'Ivoire  Indonesia Myanmar Swaziland
Bangladesh DPR of Korea Iraq Namibia Syria
Benin DR Congo Jordan Niger Tanzania
Botswana Djibouti Kenya Nigeria Taiwan
Burkina Faso Egypt Lao PDR Pakistan Togo
Burundi Equatorial Guinea Lesotho Palestine Tonga
Cambodia Eritrea Liberia Rwanda Tunisia
Cameroon Ethiopia Libya Saudi Arabia Tuvalu
Cape Verde Gabon Madagascar Senegal Uganda
Central African Republic Gambia Malawi Sierra Leone Viet Nam
Chad Ghana Mali Somalia Yemen
China, (except Hong Kong and Macao) Guinea Mauritania Sri Lanka Zambia
Zimbabwe

Visa Fees:

Visitor (up to 120 days) single entry 15,000 Dram, multiple entries 80,000 Dram
Transit (up to 3 days) single entry 10,000 Dram, multiple entries 18,000 Dram.
All types of visas for children under 18 are free of charge.
The validity of passport should exceed the term of validity of the visa at least one month.
For further on visa matters please visit the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia 

Currency

The Armenian “Dram” (AMD) is in circulation in the following notes: 50,000, 20,00, 10,000, 5,000, 1,000, and coins: 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, and 10.
Exchange rates as of April 2008 are 1US$=308AMD, 1EUR=490AMD, 1RUB=13AMD.
There are numerous exchange offices in the region. Exchange of currency is also available at banks. In major cities also bank automats functioning with VISA and Master Card bank cards are available.

Transportation

Entrance to Armenia is possible by land and air. There is one international airport Zvartnots in Yerevan. Several border crossing points are available with Iran and Georgia. Of them during excursion, we plan to enter Armenia on the border crossing point Sadakhlo (Georgia) - Bagratashen (Armenia), and to exit on the border crossing point Bavra - Bavra.
If you plan to fly in Armenia first, please inform Karen Jenderedjian (e-mail: jender@arminco.com) about your arrival time. He will arrange you transportation to the venue.

The IMCG 2008 Field Symposium in Georgia and Armenia 
31 August – 13 September 2008


The preliminary schedule of the IMCG 2008 Field Symposium is as follows:

IMCG Resolutions

The IMCG General Assembly in Georgia 2008 will again discuss and adopt resolutions. To streamline the procedure, IMCG members are requested to submit their draft resolution timely, i.e. as soon as possible, to the IMCG secretariat. This will enable to circulate the draft resolutions among the Main Board, to publish the necessary background information in the IMCG Newsletter of July 2008, and to put the drafts on our website so that everybody can send reactions (to the IMCG Secretariat).
Draft resolutions should identify the apparatus and bodies to which the resolution has to be directed or sent. Examples (phrasing and content) of resolutions can be found on the IMCG website (www.imcg.net/imcgdocu.htm). Resolutions are not always taken at heart by the governments they are
addressed to. Yet resolutions remain a strong tool to influence government policies, the more so with the increasing strength of IMCG on the global peatland front.


www.imcg.net last update 25/04/2008