The "Osvyeysky" reserve and the "Sebezhsky" National Park have developed a cross-border tourist route

May 26, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The Osveyskoye Republican Landscape Reserve (Verkhnedvinsk district, Vitebsk region) and the Sebezhsky National Park (Pskov region, Russian Federation) have developed the first cross-border tourist route. This was announced today to a BELTA correspondent by the director of the reserve, Igor Romanyuk. The project provides for the creation of a 35-kilometer waterway through the territory of two protected adjacent areas, with stops, a campsite, and a canoe parking lot. At the request of water tourists, they can be accommodated in agro-ecotourism estates. The route program was presented and received support from European technical assistance funds at a working meeting of the heads of specially protected areas of the border regions of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. According to Igor Romanyuk, the Belarusian-Russian project is the only one that has been approved for implementation. Now the route developers have to clarify the details and formalize the application. The European fund plans to start financing the project in August of the current year. As Igor Romanyuk noted, the cooperation between Belarusian and Russian specially protected territories involves not only the development of cross-border tourism but also cooperation in scientific and environmental protection activities. In early June, representatives of the Russian reserve will familiarize themselves with the activities of their Osveysk colleagues in protecting territories from fires. The territory management plans envisage them obtaining the status of a transboundary Ramsar site. The Osveyskoye Reserve is a large complex of lakes, forests, transitional and raised bogs. Its area is over 27.7 thousand hectares. Since 2002, the reserve has been granted the status of a wetland of international importance (Ramsar site). Within the boundaries of the reserve, 164 species of nesting birds have been registered (36 species are listed in the Red Book of Belarus). The lake and surrounding areas are a place of constant concentration of wetland bird species during the spring-autumn migration. The reserve is inhabited by 3 species of mammals (brown bear, badger, lynx) and 16 species of plants listed in the Red Book of the republic. Among rare plants, botanists highlight hybrid forms of black and grey alder, tall forms of Karelian birch, a large population of small yellow pond lily, and the rare relict insectivorous plant Aldrovanda vesiculosa. The Sebezhsky National Park is a federally protected natural area, established in 1996, covering an area of 50 thousand hectares on the watershed of the Western Dvina and Velikaya rivers. It consists of many lakes connected by rivers and streams. 700 plant species have been recorded in its flora. Rare and endangered bird species are found there, including the black stork, osprey, short-toed eagle, and white-tailed eagle.-0-