Today, the First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Korbut, made a statement following the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s decision on the state of conservation of Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
The 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is currently taking place in Delhi, India.
Alexander Korbut informed the participants of the event about the negative consequences that the protective structure erected by the Republic of Poland on the territory of this specially protected natural area has on the ecosystems of the transboundary UNESCO World Heritage Site “Belovezhskaya Pushcha”. Thus, the First Deputy Minister drew the attention of those present to the violation of the hydrological regime, the blocking of animal migration routes, the spread of alien and invasive plants.
At the same time, Alexander Korbut reported on the efforts undertaken by the Republic of Belarus to establish a constructive dialogue with the Republic of Poland in order to minimize the existing negative consequences and prevent potential threats from the “fence” erected by the Polish side.
In conclusion of his speech, the First Deputy Minister asked the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the International Union for Conservation of Nature to “act as mediators between Belarus and Poland and provide possible assistance in resuming cross-border cooperation between our countries to effectively implement the Committee’s recommendations and prevent the worsening of the situation in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha transboundary site.”
Also on the sidelines of the event, the Belarusian delegation held a number of bilateral meetings with representatives of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee member states and observer states, during which they informed about the work being done to ensure the preservation of Belovezhskaya Pushcha and about attempts to ensure a constructive dialogue with the Republic of Poland. At the same time, the Belarusian side emphasized its desire to avoid politicization of the issue of preserving Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
