Environmental protection activities and ecotourism issues will be discussed by scientists from five countries at a conference in Vitebsk

December 11, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. Environmental protection issues will be discussed by participants of the III International Scientific and Practical Conference "Protected Natural Areas and Objects of Belarusian Poozerie: Current State, Development Prospects", which will be held on December 16-17 at the Vitebsk State University named after P. Masherov. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the head of the university's Department of Botany, Leonard Merzhvinsky. About 100 scientists, teachers, and specialists from environmental agencies and institutions from Belarus, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and Latvia have shown interest in the event. At the conference, specialists will consider a wide range of issues related to the formation of a national ecological network and the optimization of specially protected natural areas, as well as objects that have the status of key botanical and ornithological territories. The participants of the forum will be presented with the topic of conserving specific species of animals and plants in specially protected areas, and specialists will discuss the situation with peat deposits and their place in the regional ecological network. A separate topic of the conference will be the discussion of the development prospects of ecotourism and environmentally compatible nature management, as well as the improvement of educational work among the population on environmental protection issues. The international conference is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the founding of Vitebsk State University, which will be celebrated in 2010. The organizer of the scientific forum is Vitebsk State University and the regional committee for natural resources and environmental protection. -0-