The history of National Parks in Georgia begins in 1973 when the first “Saguramo National Park” was created, which later became “Tbilisi National Park” in 1979. National parks exist to protect areas of National or International importance, areas known with outstanding natural beauty, to protect ecosystems and conserve the local biodiversity. Also, National parks contribute a great deal to the development of Eco-tourism in Georgia, especially in promoting the Georgian cultural and natural heritage on an international scale. In 1995 “Borjom-Kharagauli National Park” became the first National Park of International standards. It functions till this day and attracts thousands of people each year. Development of the rest of the parks was very rapid, in 1998 “Kolkheti National Park” Started functioning, in 2003 “Tusheti National Park” and “Vashlovani National Park” followed, with the latest one – “Mtirala National Park” opening in 2006. In recent years Georgia also created “Machakhela National Park”, “Javakheti National Park”, “Algeti National Park”, “Saguramo National Park” & “Algeti National Park”. The last two will expand in the nearest future. Creation of “Central Caucasus Glacier National Park” and “Pshav-Khevsureti National Park” is also planned in the nearest future. As of January 2018, there are 11 National Parks in Georgia with a total area covering more than 349327,1 ha. You can find the list of National Parks of Georgia below: