European Council Diploma of Belavezhskaya forest suspended

The Diploma of the Council of Europe for the Belavezhskaya forest was suspended. The Belarusian and Polish national parks have been living without the diploma since the beginning of October.

“The main reason why the Belarusian and Polish parks have been deprived of the European Diploma is the absence of a plan for the forest protection for 10 years,” Scientific department of the Belavezhskaya national park (Poland) workers told “Salidarnasts”. A meeting of representatives of the countries-members of the Convention of wild animals protection is to be held in the end of November in Strasbourg. The Belavezhskaya forest issue is planned to be included to the agenda.

A delegation of experts of the Council of Europe headed by Professor Eckhart Kuijken spent three days in Belavezhskaya forest with an inspection. The purpose of the expedition was to check whether the National Park keeps to the norms of the Diploma of the Council of Europe. Such inspections are executed every 5 years.

The Belarusian part neither confirms nor denies that the Diploma of the Council of Europe was suspended for the National Park.

“Actually, I don’t want to comment on that. Have a nice day!” executive director of the National Park Belavezhskaya forest Mikalai Bambiza said.

Nobody in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Protection has heard of the suspense of the Diploma. “We would know that if it was true,” Alena Penaz, the Ministry’s press secretary told “Salidarnasts”.

The Diploma of the Council of Europe was granted to the National Park “Belavezhskaya forest” in 1997 for the great achievements in the preservation of wild nature of the Belavezhskaya forest. Then, according to independent Belarusian ecological experts, the Diploma was granted “in advance” for future improvements of the nature protection and preservation of the relic Belavezhsky forest.

A scandal broke out in January 2002, during the talks on prolongation of the Diploma of the Council of Europe. Democratic and scientific communities called upon the experts to consider thoroughly their far too optimistic decision. They claimed the condition of the forest had become much worse and the authorities were using the desirable award - the Diploma - to conceal their activities that contradict the policy of preservation of the Belavezhskaya forest. In reply, the Council of Europe has widened the list of recommendations for the oncoming 5 years nearly twice (from 10 to 18 points).

“We hope the Diploma was suspended temporarily. We are working upon nature preservation measures and hope that the European Diploma will be prolonged,” representatives of the Polish Belavezhskaya national park say.

“The Diploma of the Council of Europe is a desirable award for any nature conservation territory. And the fact that the Belavezhskaya forest has been deprived of it is very disappointing. The Diploma is an additional, even though a weak, tool of control over the park’s administration,” independent Belarusian ecologists told “Salidarnasts”.

The average age of trees in the Belavezhskaya forest is 110 years. And some plants are two and a half centuries old! 90% of the forest’s flora has been formed without human interference. Within the last 5 years the National Park “Belavezhskaya forest” became Europe’s most esteemed nature conservation territory. UNESCO included a part of the forest to the list of World’s Heritage in 1992. It received the status of biosphere reserve in 1993, and four years later - the Diploma of the Council of Europe.

Among the Belarusian nature conservation territories the Diploma of the Council of Europe was granted to Biarezinskaya biosphere reserve.