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Belarus MAB National Committee Activity for 2012

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Belarus MAB National Committee Activity for 2012 REPORT on the Belarus MAB National Committee activity for 2012 The main directions of activity of the Belarus MAB National Committee in 2012 includes coordination activity of the national biosphere reserves and cross- border cooperation in the frame of the MAB Programme and UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), development of educational network on natural sciences on basis of national biosphere reserves. Three objects of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves are located in Belarus: Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve (1978), Belovezhskaya Pushcha Biosphere Reserve (1993) and West Polesie Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, Belarus-Poland–Ukraine (2012). Former national WNBR site Pribuzhskoye Polesie BR is functioning as a Belarusian part of the West Polesie TBR and also as national site of new generation. Web-sites of the national Biosphere Reserves are currently updated with the information and news on activity of biosphere reserves: - Berezinsky BR (http://berezinsky.by); - Belovezhskaya Pushcha BR (http://www.npbp.brestobl.com); - Pribuzhskoye Polesie BR (http://brpp.by), Belarusian part of the West Polesie Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, Belarus – Poland - Ukraine. Common Web-site of the West Polesie TBR - http://westpolesie.org/,with links to national Web-sites of three Biosphere Reserves in Belarus, Poland and Ukraine. Activity on UNESCO MAB Programme in Belarus in 2012 might be considered under the following milestones: setting up trilateral West Polesie Transboundary Biosphere Reserve as result of twelve-year period of Belarusian-Polish-Ukrainian joint activity in the direction; getting the Diploma of the UNESCO Director General for the West Polesie TBR; Start educational training on a new training program for managers of biosphere reserves at the oldest university of the Republic of Belarus - Belarusian State University. The first period of activity in direction of establishment of a trilateral biosphere reserve in the border areas of Belarus, Poland and Ukraine was successfully completed, it took twelve-year long activity of three-national team in the direction. West Polesie Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, Poland-Belarus- Ukraine, one of the four trilateral objects of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves, was established in 2012. Further activity of the West Polesie TBR is considered at an angle of unity of the three parts of a single trilateral object of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Succeeding period of activity has begun on basis of close previous three national cooperation with strong support of the UNESCO MAB Secretariat and MAB National Committees of Belarus, Poland and Ukraine. Support in 2007-2012 of scientific, educational and social research by Japanese Funds in Trust and UNESCO was very helpful for representatives of individual Biosphere Reserves in understanding themselves also as a team designed to systematically implement activities on sustainable development of the Poleski region by the example of the WP TBR. Joint data base of scientific, educational and social research in three Biosphere Reserves was created and now the process of improvement and development of the WP TBR joint data base is going. Regular meetings between the staff of three parts of WP TBR are becoming the norm, the proposals for measures in national reserves are considered from the point of unified efforts to improve the significance of the WP TBR. Several joint proposals for funding are prepared by the team of the West Polesie TBR for development of further cooperative activity. Joint proposals for cooperative programs of the European Union – such as ‘Cross Border Cooperation Programme within the Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument’, ‘TEMPUS’ were presented for funding in 2012-2013. The idea of Biosphere Reserves found adherents in Belarus - numerous national and international activities on existing and planned biosphere reserves are running. Transboundary territories on the north-western border of Belarus with bordering areas of Lithuania and Poland - ‘Augustovskaya Pushcha, Belarus- Lithuania-Poland’, on the south of the country with bordering of Ukraine - "Pripyatsky, Belarus-Ukraine" in Ancient Valley of the Pripyat River, are considered as potential biosphere reserves. Activities on setting up transboundary biosphere reserves on basis of natural valuable objects in Belarus, Latvia and Russian Federation are also continued. In 2012-2014 in the frame of the EU “Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus Cross Border Cooperation Programme within the Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument” joint Belarusian-Lithuanian Project “Management of Alytus - Grodno Region Transboundary Protected Areas and Promotion of their Integration into Pan-European Ecological Network” is running. The primary aim of the Project is to improve joint strategic planning and management of Cepkeliai-Cotra transboundary Ramsar site as well as lay the grounds for establishment of transboundary Augustow/Augutavas biosphere reserve within the framework of the UNESCO Programme “Man and the Biosphere” by fostering cross border collaboration, connections between people, elaboration of standardized methodologies, harmonization of regulatory framework, joint research, facilitated know-how and experience sharing, and united contribution to finding most advantageous solutions. About 20 special meetings and seminars with participation of local authorities, representatives of local population and partners from Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Russian Federation were conducted in 2012 in Belarus (Grodno district, Vitebsk District, Miory, Brest, Brest District). More than 10 meetings and conferences in Poland (Warsaw and Urshulin, in Kudova-Zdroj), Russian Federation (Kaliningrad, Smolensk District), Lithuania (Vilnius, Alytus, Shaulyay) Latvia (Riga, Riga District) were conducted with participation of Belarusian specialists from biosphere reserves and researchers. The concept of biosphere reserves are involved into national legislations - challenges, best practices and steps forward were presented in the public presentations of Belarusian specialists and representatives of national Biosphere Reserves. The best practices included into elaboration of national and multilateral strategy on further preparation of nomination application to UNESCO to obtain the status of a biosphere reserve and support it for the years. To maintain the status of national Biosphere Reserves, and implement certain commitments of the country the measures of different level have been undertaken. In particularly, urbanization process, which is being observed at the present time worldwide, in Europe and Republic of Belarus, affected Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve as well, that had an impact on depopulation at its territory. To avoid negative trend of depopulation in Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve, the oldest WNBR site in Belarus (1978), and change the trend to sustainable population rise as administrative as economic measures have been undertaken, such as following: Extension of the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve’s area up to131,7 ths. hectares due to extension of transition area (co-operation area) by 13,8 ths. hectares was made, decision led to the growth of the population by 15% In the prescribed manner a procedure of legislative consolidation of decision on optimization the territory of Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve has been launched, which is justified with legislative instruments in 2013; New Regulation on Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve has been accepted, in which opportunities of sustainable environmental management for residential population living at the territory of buffer and transition zones of the Reserve are considerably expanded. About twenty young professionals in the sphere of forest management, agrarian and nature protection specialists – graduating students of the Belarusian universities and high-level schools were employed for permanent job in the Reserve during 2011-2012. Attraction of young professionals, in some cases along with young families, on the staff of Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve to a considerable degree is caused by improvement of work positions and provision of free service housing for them: three apartment houses with 28 flats have been built, the hostel with 20 rooms has been equipped – in order to attract young professionals from the region to work at the Reserve. Reserve’s infrastructure has been considerably widen for expansion of ecological tourism, especially in the transition area – new guest houses at the lakes Palik, Plavno, Olshitsa have been built, recreational and tourist site Nivki has been widen and equipped. All the measures let to get more than twenty additional workplaces, to strengthen the links between the Reserve’s activities and initiatives on sustainable development of Lepel district and Vitebsk region in the sphere of ecological and rural tourism. New building of baseline monitoring station has been built (2011-2012) at the Berezinsky Reserve’s territory with the assistance of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus. Baseline monitoring station is equipped with modern equipment for implementing long- term monitoring, carrying out meteorological, hydrological observations, as well as for assessment of environmental pollution. Scientific research level increase due to new instrumental base in the Reserve is one of prerequisites for the Reserve’s taking part in international projects and programs, and might attract young talented specialists for work. For example
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