Minsk, 13 October 2006 – The restoration of the natural hydrological regime of the Osveiskoe peat bog that had been damaged as a result of peat extraction will become one of the key activities under the Osveiski preserve’s new management plan. Yesterday the town of Verkhnedvinsk in the Vitebsk region hosted a seminar on the plan’s preparation.

The seminar was jointly conducted under the UNDP/GEF project on the restoration of damaged peat bogs (the rehabilitation of the Osveiskoe peat bog will be carried out as part of the project’s implementation) and by the Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

“Purposeful work has started on solving amassed problems of the country’s lake-and-marsh system,” says Aleksander Kozulin, the project’s scientific coordinator. “In view of the local authorities’ willingness and the professionalism of the team participating in this process, I can say with confidence that the plan will be worked out and quickly implemented”.

The seminar was attended by representatives of the Verkhnedvinsk district executive committee, the Vitebsk regional executive committee, the Verkhnedvinsk district inspection for natural resources and environment protection, a local melioration systems company, lessees of the preserve lands, members of the mass media, and others.

The seminar participants were presented with examples of the implementation of similar management plans by the Zvanets preserve in the Brest region of Belarus and by the Sebezhsky national park in Russia. In their turn, the seminar participants highly evaluated the ecological, socioeconomic and cultural importance of the Osveiski preserve’s territory, identified threats to the preserve’s natural complexes and the causes of those threats. The participants also drafted a plan of steps that should be taken in order to support the sustainability of the preserve’s ecosystems.

“We are glad that a management plan for the Osveiski preserve will be worked out, with all interested parties taken into account. The plan will help upgrade the territory’s status,” noted Vladimir Yarokhovich, first deputy chair of the Verkhnedvinsk district executive committee. “Unfortunately, we are among the last to appreciate the opportunities offered by eco-tourism. Although our district is environmentally clean, it does not have the fine facilities to attract tourists yet. We are now going to work on this as well.”

For reference: The UNDP/GEF project is aimed at assisting Belarus not only with solving the problem of peat bog deterioration, but also with fulfilling its commitments under three UN environmental conventions: on bio-diversity, on climate change, and on combating land desertification and deterioration.

For additional information, please, refer to Assistant Project Manager, Olga Stepaniuk, at 8-29-678-16-85, or UNDP Communications Associate, Vladislav Khilkevich, at 227-38-17.

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