MINSK, 19 August (BelTA) – The House of Representatives will give the first reading to the bill on protection and use of peatlands. This will be the first document in Belarus to comprehensively regulate this area, BelTA learned from Tatiana Kononchuk, Chairperson of the Commission for Environment, Nature Management, and Chernobyl at the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus.
“The new bill is unprecedented not only in the former Soviet countries but also in Europe,” Tatiana Kononchuk noted. Some matters regarding protection and use of peatlands are regulated by the Natural Resources Code, the Water Code, laws on environmental protection, special protection areas, and melioration. The bill was prepared by the Belarusian Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry in cooperation with scientists and public associations to comprehensively regulate this area.
“The bill focuses on terminology and classification, describes protection and use of natural swamps, the procedure of drawing up borders of peatlands, peatland restoration,” Tatiana Kononchuk said. The bill aims to preserve natural swamps, outline requirements for economic activities (agriculture and timber industry) in order to reduce adverse impact on peatlands and swamps. “We need to provide precise requirements for protection and use of peatlands for land users,” she added.
Plans are in place to draw up bylaws regulating a procedure to develop and adopt a swamp management plan, carry out monitoring, and compile an inventory and a register of peatlands.
The House of Representatives intends to adopt the bill in the first reading in the author's edition. The bill will then be finalized with participation of the public. Tatiana Kononchuk expressed confidence that other countries will follow Belarus' example in terms of protection and use of peatlands. Europe is interested in preserving Belarusian swamps (26 wetlands in Belarus are protected under the 1971 Ramsar Convention) and welcomes Belarus' efforts to restore peatlands.
In 2019, Belarus plans to restore over 7,600 hectares of peatlands in line with the UNDP Wetlands project. Peatland restoration helps stabilize groundwater level, prevent mineralization of peat and soil degradation, reduce CO2 emissions and risk of wildfires, and leads to the growth of endangered species populations.
