Belovezhskaya Pushcha may not keep its place on list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites

20 июля 2017

Whether or not Belovezhskaya Pushcha will remain inscribed on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites will be known in 2019. Nikolay Svidinsky, the Head of the Biological and Landscape Diversity Department at the Belarusian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, told us about it in an exclusive interview to our TV channel.

Earlier this month, it became known that the Polish side began cutting trees in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha. The reason is that trees are infested with the bark beetle. However, the ecologists of the two countries insist that it is impossible to interfere in the ecosystem of the forest. After that, consultations were held in Krakow with the participation of UNESCO representatives. Both sides supported the proposal on total verification of the siruation in the nature reserve. The commission included experts from Belarus and Poland. The report will be ready by November 2018. Then, an international mission of ecologists from 21 countries will leave for the Belovezhskaya Pushcha. These experts will determine the status of the famous park.

Nikolay Svidinsky, the Head of the Biological and Landscape Diversity Department at the Belarusian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection: "All the processes associated with the cutting of trees in unlimited quantities are currently suspended, but this does not mean that we can calm down and stop working in this direction. The work will be constant and systematic."

Last week, news agencies reported that the European Commission sued Poland and demanded that the felling of trees in the relic forest be stopped immediately.