Burnt Georgian forest shows costs of Russia war

By Noah Barkin and Niko Mchedlishvili

DABA, Georgia (Reuters) - Mikheil Tediashvili remembers the day last month when he looked up and saw an unfamiliar military helicopter gliding over the lush peaks that surround his tiny village in central Georgia.

Half an hour later the 80-year old farmer saw the first flames, which spread rapidly amid strong winds, engulfing the entire mountain-side and turning the forest of pines, firs and spruces above Daba into an inferno.

Nearly a month later, smouldering ashes and the odd plume of smoke are still evident.

The blaze broke out at the height of Georgia's brief war with Russia and burned for weeks, ravaging up to 950 hectares (2,350 acres) of forest on the edge of the Borjomi-Kharagauli national park, known for rare flora and fauna and a favoured destination for "eco-tourists".

"We are devastated, it is as if we were dead," said Tediashvili, standing on a sloping wasteland of ashes and burnt tree stumps.

The Georgian government says it will take 50 to 70 years for the burnt sections of the forest to regrow.

The damage to the mountains above Daba, some 160 km (100 miles) southwest of Tbilisi, is seen as a national tragedy by environmentalists, Georgian officials and locals.

It is a reminder that the costs of the war, sparked when Georgia tried to retake the separatist region of South Ossetia on August 7 and was crushed by Russian troops, go beyond the casualties, displaced people and bombed buildings that have shaken this former Soviet state.