MINSK, 27 February (BelTA) – A big environmental project aimed at restoring the habitats of globally threatened species (Aquatic warbler, greater spotted eagle, great snipe, black-tailed godwits) and the conservation-oriented management of forest and wetland ecosystems is underway in Belarus, BelTA has learned.
The five-year UNDP-GEF project “Conservation-oriented management of forests and wetlands to achieve multiple benefits” (Wetlands) started in November last year. All this time the stakeholders were engaged in preparatory work. On 27 February Minsk played host to the initial workshop that brought together the partners and stakeholders. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection is the national executing agency. The donors are the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Development Programme. The total budget of the project is $4.3 million.
The main objective is to introduce conservation-centered and financially self-sufficient approaches to management of forests and wetlands that will yield conservation effect for the globally significant biodiversity, climate and land use, said Nikolai Svidinsky, the head of the department of biological and landscape diversity at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection. Sustainable use of resources is very important for the balance of environmental and economic interests, he noted.
“Forest and wetland ecosystems of Belarus are of global importance for unique biodiversity. The conservation of these ecosystems is important for reducing the rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national levels. The five-year Wetlands program includes a number of interesting projects that do not repeat the previous ones but are based on their results and problematic aspects,” Nikolai Svidinsky said. Some activities will be implemented in synergy with similar initiatives in Europe
Project Manager Aleksei Artyushevsky explained that the project provides for some changes to the environmental legislation (including the long-awaited law on protection and use of wetlands), conservation of valuable tracts of forests, implementation of sustainable methods to the use and processing of peatland biomass, the improvement of forage lands for the free-roaming micro-population of the European bison, restoring the habitats for wetland birds, wetlands and grasslands, ecotourism development and so on. The project will cover more than a dozen of protected natural areas: Turov Lug and Pogost, Nalibokskaya Pushcha, Zvanets and Sporovsky, Zhada, Servech and others.
