Unprotected landscapes of Belovezhskaya Pushcha
Will Belovezhskaya Pushcha still have the European Diploma?
Yulia Romashevska, "Radio Liberty Life", November 10, 2008
Belarusian ecologists hope that European pressure will put an end to destruction of the protected wood stands.
Belovezhskaya Pushcha is one of the largest remaining bits of a relict primeval forest which once spread over the prehistoric Europe. In 1992, this fact made the State National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha" a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A year later the National Park became a Biosphere Reserve, and in 1997 it received a European Diploma. But will the National Park be allowed to continue to have the awarded Diploma in future is under question now. Belarusian scientists hope that European demands will force the authorities to stop destruction of the wilderness forest.
"We are glad to introduce you to all the reaches we have – customs and traditions, amazing nature of the National Park, the beauty of its forests, rivers, fields," these words, under the signature of director general of the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha" Nikolai Bambiza, read the visitors of the official website of the National Park.
In the opinion of Heorhi Kazulka, philosophy doctor of biology and a former staff member of the National Park, these are just words. The wilderness of Belovezhskaya Pushcha is being destroyed in practice. The next step in this direction is giving the status of a water reservoir to the Lesnaya River which flows through the territory of the Park. This will inevitably have a catastrophic effect on the surrounding forest, according to the ecologist.
"The Academy of Sciences should raise these issues. The Scientific Council should lead the discussion. Nothing of that happens however. The decision is made by the director of the Park personally. This is a blow in the face of all acceptable practices. What’s more, this improvement and change of status for the Lesnaya River is not in the National Park's management plan which should be developed by the administration."
When the plan was discussed in May this year, the security staff forced Heorhi Kazulka out of the building referring to the director’s order. How the plan is being put to life remains an enigma to the public. The results however will undoubtedly show whether Belovezhskaya Pushcha will still be worthy of the European Diploma, a prestigious award which is given to national parks and biosphere reserves based on success of their nature conservation efforts. Belovezhskaya Pushcha earned it for successful wild nature protection work in 1997. In 2006, the European Council put forward a number of conditions to the National Park, and the inability of the administration to fulfill them may strip the National Park of the award.
"Nothing has been sent to the European Council yet, this hasn’t been discussed there. Only when the plan will have been sent to the Council, will the European experts officially come to Belarus to see what is really going on here," says Heorhi Kazulka.
It’s not clear yet whether and how the public can engage in the discussion process of planning the management of Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Official information from within the National Park administration is hard to find.
"A draft plan of managing the National Park hasn’t been opened to a public discussion yet," says Inessa Zenina, biologist and a former staff member of the Pripyatski National Park. "Only a preamble was released. And we all know what it is – an introductory passage of a thousand and a half characters which explains goals and tasks, just nice words. We can discuss them…"
According to Heorhi Kazulka, a broad discussion of the issue is non-existent due to how the administration means it to be.
"We are promised to finally have a developed plan published for the public on the official website of the National Park and on my website, but we’ve been warned in advance that there’ll be little time for discussion, only about a week. We could say some rules of the public discussion process are not followed, but even clear procedures of making it aren’t observed. The public has been left without a right for a discussion. We have the Aarhus Convention which says "to discuss", but doesn’t define any technical details of doing it, how it should look. Perhaps we should send another request to the European Council so that it insisted of a public discussion being allowed."
To Heorhi Kazulka the saying "fish starts rotting from its head" clearly illustrates the current situation in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
"Today’s main problem, however strange it may sound, is the director of the National Park. Now that the head of the Presidential Property Management Department has been changed the situation looks less somber. It can be seen even in written replies to my questions – they have changed, they are filled with another meaning. In contrast, nothing can be solved at the site, because here we have one man boiling the broth. This is the case when the personality role cannot be underestimated in history. I believe that all things in the National Park would change for the better if there were changes in its administration."
According to Inessa Zenina, the contribution of scientists and ecologists to the management plan of the National Park could be important. Everyone should pursue one goal which is compliance of the National Park to European Diploma's criteria. But participation in the discussion is difficult.
"I personally sent a letter to the director of Belovezhskaya Pushcha, asking to invite me to the meeting of the experts. There hasn’t been an answer yet and it seems there won’t be. A similar letter was sent to the Presidential Property Management Department, with the same results. So the participation is difficult in this respect…"
Many European organizations are concerned about the future of the oldest forest in Europe. UNESCO representatives have just recently visited Belarus.
"The experts gathered to consider a possibility of adding the whole territory of Belovezhskaya Pushcha to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites," says deputy minister of nature protection Galina Volchuga.
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