Strictly Protected Zone of Belovezhskaya Pushcha to expand, Father Frost to move elsewhere?

By Ekateryna Sinjuk, website "TUT.BY", February 22, 2012

Presidential Edict #59 "On Some Issues Of Management For Especially Protected Natural Areas" shall come into force in three months to bring massive change to a point of Belarusian pride – the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha". In particular, the strictly protected zone of this old forest will double in size. It took two years to draft the Edict.

"Presidential Edict #59 is a historic event"

According to the Scientific and Practical Centre for Bioresources of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Presidential Edict is largely a technical document, adopted to fulfill the State Program of Management for the system of especially protected natural areas in the time span of 2008 – 2014.

Some experts say this document of technical nature is but historic for Belarus: owing to it, the strictly protected zone of the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha" will double in size. Now this zone occupies a substantial part of the relic primeval forest within its historical borders. No less than three whole generations of public ecological activists anticipated this event.

"‘This is a historic event! If we take a look at the Forest in historical retrospect then we shall see that nothing has changed in form since the year of 1991, when the National Park was established. However, do take a look into the Park, and it is very safe to say that this Edict brings about massive change. Until 2004 the territory of the strictly protected zone was 15,5 thousand hectares, then it was expanded to 30 thousand, and now by this Edict the strictly protected zone was enlarged two times more, to 57 thousand hectars!", says Mr Heorhi Kazulka, an ecologist and a former Deputy Director for Science of the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha".

It is worth noting that all the territory of Belovezhskaya Pushcha totals to almost 153 thousand hectares. Until the Edict was passed only 30 % of the territory of the relic forest had the status of the strictly protected, and that is a little more than 30 thousand hectares or 19 % of the total territory of the Park.

According to the Department for Management of Affairs of the President of Belarus, the Regulation on the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha", approved of by the above-mentioned Edict, was drafted to implement a basically new approach to the limitation of all human activity in the territory of various functional zones of the National Park. For instance, sectors of valuable natural ecosystems (approx. 15,2 thousand hectares) located outside the strictly protected zone were picked out to enjoy additional limitations imposed on all economic activities in those sectors.

The territories of the economic use and regulated nature zones were also reduced (from 57,2 to 46,1 thousand hectares and from 57,3 to 39,1 thousand hectares respectively). The territory of the recreation zone designated to enhance tourism and provide for the social and economic needs of locals now totals to 7,8 thousand hectares.

As the Scientific and Practical Centre briefed TUT.by, all kinds of human activity in the strictly protected zone are now banned, less the research and scientific work and a number of technological operations, carried out aiming at the protection of forest and at the fight against alien plant species, etc., and required to keep the most vulnerable ecosystems in their natural form. Let us say, fens can be lost without human involvement and aid, and with those fens the habitat of globally endangered species will disappear.

"‘It is also important that apart from the expansion of the strictly protected zone additional limitations are imposed on the logging in high-value sectors outside the strictly protected zone. In addition to that a seasonal ban on spring hunting is now being introduced in the sectors where hunting was previously permitted. One more ban is imposed on the organization of sites for the additional forage for bison and other wildlife ungulates in high-value areas to address the ever existing problem of overpopulation of ungulates. They do harm high-value woods. Our suggestion was to organize sites for the additional forage on the periphery", says Mrs Natalya Urgenson, head of sector for nature protection management of Scientific and Practical Centre for Bioresources of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

The State Reserve "Belovezhskaya Pushcha" was established in 1939. It is a pity the relic forest enjoyed this status only for a brief moment since war broke out. The State Reserve renewed its operation in 1945 to be reorganized into "a protected hunting game ground" in 1957. Thus the Edict #59 historically returns the management of wilderness nature protection to its origins.

The ancient relic forest covers roughly 70 – 75 thousand hectares, however, it should be made clear that there is no way how it can be fully transformed into the strictly protected area since there are inhabited settlements here which must have some recreation zone.

It is unclear what shall be done with a touristic facility "Father Frost’s Manor"

Forest management, hunting and other kinds of use of natural resources are bound to be limited, herewith the economic activity that is still underway in sectors which have not yet been assigned to the strictly protected area will be put out onto the periphery of the National Park.

At the same time it is already clear that the income made from the forest management will fall, and therefore the National Park bestows its hopes on the rise of subsidies from the state and on the integration of tourism into life of the Park, which is to result in incomes. Mr Herorhi Kazulka holds positive opinion of tourism in the National Park. However, this business should be entrusted only to professionals, always provided there is management on solid scientific footing.

"First and foremost such facilities of mass entertaining tourism as "Father Frost’s Manor", which is located in the centre of Belovezhskaya Pushcha, must be moved to the periphery. There must be the rule of nature protection, of reserve management and of wildlife science in the centre of the old forest, and on the basis thereof tourism should flourish, says Mr Kazulka. – It is what I saw in the Bavarian Forest, Germany. The building on the infrastructure of tourism implies the inflow of private capital, which will be put into the development of roadside services. However, this does not refer to the nature reserve management."

Truth be told, some in the Scientific and Practical Centre for Bioresources would not argue whether the Father Frost’s Manor in the centre of the old forest is really harmful.

"‘The Father Frost’s Manor, from the day it was built, was always located in the recreation area and never in the strictly protected zone. Once there was a bison-nursery here with no primeval forest in sight and just one building for the needs of that nursery. This building later on was fenced to become Father Frost’s Manor with parking lot for buses and groups of tourists walking within fenced area", says Mrs Urgenson.

"We must have the Diploma of the Council of Europe back"

The positive changes have taken place, and the Diploma of the Council of Europe may be handed back to the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha", stresses Mr Kazulka. As it is known, in 1997 the National Park was granted this Diploma to mark the achievements made in the sphere of nature protection. However, by the year of 2002 the Council of Europe had expressed a number of misgivings about environmental activities, carried out by the National Park.

It is simply hard to describe what was going on here before, says the ecologist. "From the moment of Mr Nikolai Bambiza’a coming into director’s office of the Park his administration was engaged not only in the lawful, but also in the disguised unlawful logging of living old-growth stands and giant trees for the timber mill, in the logging of inviolable scientific sampling areas which are normally used for forest monitoring and in the mass introduction of artificial forest plantations using heavy machinery and environment-breaking technologies, and also in the dispersing of the personnel of the Park, etc", says Mr Kazulka.

As he says, it was only 2,5 years ago, during the festivities dedicated to 600th anniversary since the establishing the nature protection status in Pushcha, when a word about the expansion of the strictly protected zone was officially pronounced.

According to Mr Kazulka, many a staff of the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha" – foresters, scholars and ordinary employees - were fired for holding on to the idea of the expansion of strictly protected zone to save the unique forest. "I am one of them, says the ecologist. In 2005 I wrote a book "Will Belovezhskaya Pushcha be a true World Heritage Site?", in which I substantiated and built on the idea of the strict reserving Belovezhskaya Pushcha and also suggested the strictly protected zone be expanded up to 50 thousand hectares. But on the basis of the Edict the strictly protected area will expand even more than it was suggested in the book. Luckily, today‘s policy switched from the destruction of Pushcha to its protection. But I think those who were fired must be "rehabilitated" and reinstated in office.

It should be indicated it was namely the administration of the National Park which facilitated in many ways the changes in life of the Pushcha. In 2000 – 2001 Mr Evgeny Smoktunovich took part in an international public campaign for the renaissance of Belovezhskaya Pushcha. At the same time Mr Bambiza ruled in Pushcha for 10 years and his activities resulted in the denial of the Diploma of the Council of Europe.

After the new director, Mr Alexander Bury, took office in April 2011, experts of the Council of Europe and his own subordinates alike hold opinion he has all the chances to help the National Park to once again become the heritage that can be handed over to new generations without shame.

Mr Eckhard Kuikinen, an expert of the Council of Europe who also visited the National Park back in 2006, stated during his last visit "there are very big positive moves. We see now that the work is more ecologically rather than economically oriented".

In September 2011 the long-awaited experts of the Council of Europe visited Belovezhskaya Pushcha. It is on them depends a decision of the General Directorate of the Council of Europe whether the European Diploma should be renewed for the National Park. The experts were satisfied with what they saw, but promised nothing. Their recommendation was to wait till February 2012 so that a final verdict can be returned.

As Mr Vasily Arnolbik, Deputy Director for Science of the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha", told TUT.by, a final decision on the National Park was not yet taken. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is expected to inform the National Park of this decision when it is taken. February is over.

Translated by Mikhail, Minsk city, zalataya.gorka @ tut.by


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