The "Poplav Mokh" drained peatland has been restored in the Vitebsk region with the support of UNDP and GEF

July 7, Minsk / Olga Belyavskaya - BELTA /. The degraded "Poplav Mokh" bog has been restored in the Liozno district of the Vitebsk region within the framework of the UNDP/GEF and the Ministry of Forestry of Belarus project "Renaturation and sustainable management of peatlands to prevent land degradation, climate change and ensure the conservation of globally significant biodiversity". This was reported to BELTA correspondent by UNDP/GEF project information officer Alexey Chistodarsky. Work on blocking drainage ditches with earth dams began on the bog in the spring of this year. Hydrotechnical structures will help raise the water level in the bog to the soil surface and stabilize it. The restoration of the hydrological regime of the degraded "Poplav Mokh" bog is of great importance for the conservation of biodiversity. "Studies conducted after waterlogging have shown that the process of restoring fauna and flora characteristic of lowland bogs in the northeast of Belarusian Poozerye has begun on the bog," said Alexey Chistodarsky. The presence of the great bittern, black stork, and grey crane, birds listed in the Red Book of Belarus, has been noted here. In spring, the territory of "Poplav Mokh" is used by migratory waterfowl as a resting and feeding place. During this period, several thousand individuals of the white-fronted goose, mallard, garganey, and Eurasian wigeon usually gather here. According to Alexey Chistodarsky, work on the renaturation of the hydrological regime of another degraded peatland in the Liozno district, "Zhadenovsky Mokh," is planned to be completed at the end of August this year. To restore and stabilize the hydrological regime of the bog, work is underway here to build 80 earth dams. The exploited peatland "Zhadenovsky Mokh" is the last territory being re-waterlogged within the UNDP/GEF peatland restoration project, which concludes at the end of December this year. -0-