Braslav Lakes National Park and Vygonoshchanskoye заказник (nature reserve) are vying for Ramsar site status

August 9, Minsk / Tatyana Chumakova - BELTA/. The Braslav Lakes National Park and the Vygonoshchanskoye Reserve may be granted the status of wetlands of international importance (Ramsar sites). This was announced today at a press conference by Anatoly Lis, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

Specialists from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus have already prepared a corresponding application to the Ramsar Bureau. The reserve and the national park have all the necessary prerequisites to obtain the status of wetlands of international importance. According to Anatoly Lis, this will help attract more tourists.

The Deputy Minister noted that obtaining the status of Ramsar sites is not easy. Currently, Belarus has 9 Ramsar sites of international importance: based on the Sporovsky, Srednyaya Pripyat, Zvanets, Olmanskiye Bolota, Osveisky, Yelnya, Kotra, Prostyr reserves, and the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. A transboundary Ramsar site has also been created jointly with Ukraine. The first territory in Belarus included in the list of wetlands of international importance was the Sporovsky Reserve. This year marks the 20th anniversary of this reserve.

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, was signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, for the purpose of conservation and wise use of all wetlands. 160 countries are parties to the convention. Belarus joined the Ramsar Convention in 1999.

As Anatoly Lis noted, the degradation of wetlands is one of the causes of global climate change. In Belarus, they occupy a significant part of the territory, and the country pays great attention to their preservation in proper condition.-0-