COUNTRY Belarus

NAME Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park

IUCN MANAGEMENT CATEGORY

V (Protected Landscape)

Biosphere Reserve

Natural World Heritage Site - Criterion iii

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL PROVINCE 2.11.05 (Middle European Forest)

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION Located in south-west Belarus, on the border with central Poland, occupying parts of the Brest Region (Kamenetsky and Pruzhansky Districts) and Grodno Region (Svisloch District). The nearest major town, Kamenets, lies 20km from the reserve. 52°30'-52°59'N, 23°35'-24°20'E

DATE AND HISTORY OF ESTABLISHMENT Limited hunting rights were granted throughout Pushcha forest in the 14th Century; the first recorded piece of legislation on the protection of the forest dates to 1538. The forest was declared a hunting reserve in 1541 for the protection of European bison. In 1557, the forest charter was issued, under which a special board to examine the rights of forest usage was established. The last private owners of the Pushcha were the Russian Tsars (1888 to 1917), after which the forest was nationalised and put under the jurisdiction of the state.

Today, the Pushcha is protected under: Decision No. 657 of the Union of People's Commissars, 9 October 1944; Order No. 2252-P of the USSR Council of Ministers, 9 August 1957; and Decree No.352 of the Byelorussian SSR Council of Ministers, 16 September 1991. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1992 and internationally recognised as a Biosphere Reserve under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme in 1993.

AREA Biosphere Reserve 177,100ha: core area 15,700ha; buffer zone 71,400ha; and transition zone 90,000ha. National Park and World Heritage Site 87,607ha. Contiguous to Bialowieza National Park, Poland (5,316ha).

LAND TENURE State

ALTITUDE Ranges from 145m to 202m

PHYSICAL FEATURES Situated in the hydrological divide between the Baltic and Black Seas, the area is covered by glacial formations with deposits composed of deep sands overlaying clays and loams, which in turn overlie Cretaceous bedrock. Rivers drain the southern region of the park (MAB-Belarus, 1993).

CLIMATE Conditions are continental with an annual rainfall of 620mm and mean annual temperature of 7°C. Average January and July temperatures are -4°C and 18°C, respectively. Snow cover seldom lasts longer than 50 to 60 days a year. An amenable climate, favouring plant growth occurs for 205 days per year (MAB-Belarus, 1993).

VEGETATION The park is 88% forested with mixed broad-leaved and conifer forests of "old growth" virgin stands, and a humid western European type with elements and mixtures of northern and southern flora typical of warmer climes. The Puscha is represented by 12 main forest associations, the major type being Tilio-Carpinetum, in contrast to the typical central European Querco-Carpinetum. Principal forest species include Scots pine Pinus silvestris, spruce Picea abies, hornbeam Carpinus betulus, small-leaved lime Tilia cordata, oak Quercus robur, sycamore Acer platanoides, maple Acer spp., ash Fraxinus excelsior, birch Betula pubescens and B. verrucosa, aspen Populus tremula and black alder Alnus glutinosa. Aquatic communities are also found, as are 38 nationally threatened plant species.

In total, over 900 vascular plant species have been recorded, including 26 tree and 138 shrub species. Almost two-thirds are indigenous with the remainder being anthropogenic introductions. A survey of the neighbouring Polish reserve has also revealed 210 lichen species, 80 liverworts and more than 1500 fungi species (Anon, 1991).

FAUNA Represented by typical European forest fauna communities with 55 mammalian, 212 avifaunal, 11 amphibians and seven reptile species. Over 8000 insect species have been recorded in the adjacent Polish park. Notable mammal species include European bison Bison bonasus (V), wolf Canis lupus (V), lynx Felis lynx, otter Lutra lutra and large populations of red deer Cervus elaphus, roe deer Capreolus capreolus, and wild boar Sus scrofa. The avifauna includes corncrake Crex crex (R), white-tailed eagle Haliaetus albicilla (R), white stork Ciconia ciconia, peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus and eagle owl Bubo bubo (MAB-Belarus, 1993).

CULTURAL HERITAGE An area renowned for its virgin forest and its wooded scenery. Belovezhskaya Pushcha has been mentioned in literature and art over the centuries. It is connected with such renowned people as the Russian landscape painter I.I. Shishkin, French philosopher Jean Jack Russo, painter N.S. Samokish, Byelorussian poet N.A Gusovsky, and the Russian revolutionary writers A.I. Gertsen and N.P. Ogarev (Anon, 1991).

LOCAL HUMAN POPULATION There are about 4,000 people living within the Biosphere Reserve: 2,500 within the transition area; and 1,500 in the buffer zone. Their livelihood is predominantly agriculturally based, the main crops being potatoes, rye, wheat, oats, barley, rape and sugar-beet. The reserve offers few financial benefits to the local population, but health and community services are provided in addition to rural development assistance. There are also some employment and training opportunities in forestry, forestry protection and other services (MAB-Belarus, 1993).

VISITORS AND VISITOR FACILITIES There are at present few visitors to the park. There are plans to encourage both national and international tourists in the future, but only when the impacts of accommodation and access, water and sewage provisions, litter, and environmental pollution have been fully assessed (MAB-Belarus, 1993).

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND FACILITIES There is a laboratory situated near the park headquarters at Kamieniuki, as well as several field stations for ecological, hydrological and climatological monitoring. There are conference and library facilities, and accommodation for up to 100 visiting scientists. Ongoing research includes natural ecosystems and their restoration, natural succession, forest management, agricultural research, and floral and faunal surveys. Research is also planned for the social sciences, in particular ethnobiology, cultural anthropology, rural technology and traditional land-use systems. A project financed under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has recently been approved (MAB-Belarus, 1993).

CONSERVATION VALUE Belovezhskaya Pushcha is a stretch of ancient, virgin, palaearctic forest, which in comparison to other lowland European forests has endured little human disturbance. The site presents a habitat for several internationally threatened species (MAB-Belarus, 1993).

CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT Responsibility for the reserve rests with the Forest Department, which has administrative and legislative support from the Belarus Council of Ministers. The management team consists of a director, deputies and support warden staff, together with staff from the reserve's scientific laboratory. Protection is ensured by cross-country patrols, with fire-risks monitored by air patrols. One of the most important tasks of the wardens is the timely control of wildlife populations. This is especially so for red deer, whose numbers are high as a result of the reserves previous 'game ground' status, and whose feeding habits have a destructive impact on forest operations such as re-planting (Anon, 1991).

There is at present no definitive management plan, although one is currently being drafted which will complement the Polish Bialowieza National Park Management Plan. Management zones have been defined, whereby the core area comprises 15,700ha; buffer zone 71,400ha (including recreational area 10,700ha, and administrative and economic area 3700ha); and transition area 90,000ha (MAB-Belarus, 1993).

Since 1991, Polish and Belarus authorities have tried to work together with respect to management issues. The director of the Byelorussian park has been nominated as a member of the Scientific Council of the Polish Bialowieza National Park, which in its role as an advisory board for park administration has issued proposals to adopt comparable monitoring systems for pollution, staff exchanges at different levels and a direct telephone link between park headquarters at Bialowieza and Kamieniuki. One of the most notable outcomes of this cross-border collaboration has been the removal of a two metre high barbed-wire fence along the border. This presented a hazardous barrier to wildlife movement and its removal will hopefully lead to the re-introduction of species within both reserves (Anon, 1991).

MANAGEMENT CONSTRAINTS Several potential threats exist due to agricultural intensification and the prevailing economic situation. The greatest hazard though comes from run-off generated by 40 tons of pesticide and over 30,000 tons of fertiliser used annually by large state farms within, or close to the buffer zone. There are also an estimated 60,000 free-ranging cattle within the Pushcha, 1200 of which are permitted to graze over 11,000ha of forest within the reserve. Other provisions made for farming within the buffer zone include 1500ha of hay meadows for intensive cultivation, in addition to 240ha of arable land and 750ha of hay meadows for cultivation by park employees. Further disturbance to thehydrological balance has also been caused by land reclamation projects which have been underway since the 1960s, with over 90km of canals so far constructed within the reserve. These canals threatens one of the most economically important species in the forest, the Norway spruce, which is extremely sensitive to changes in the ground water table (Anon, 1991).

Increased economic pressures, such as soaring inflation and lack of funding create pressures by necessitating industrial intensification. The sawmill located within the reserve, which has been used for utilizing dead and broken trees, will have to be monitored by strict regulations defining volume and form of timber harvested (MAB-Belarus, 1993).

STAFF 197 full time staff and 25 researchers. Of these, 180 are concerned with administration and resource management and 17 with training activities (MAB-Belarus, 1993).

BUDGET In 1993, the budget was 400 million roubles (US$ 184,832), provided by the Belarus Council of Ministers. This may now be considerably higher due to exaggerated inflation (MAB-Belarus, 1993).

LOCAL ADDRESSES

Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, Settlement Kamenyuki, Kamenets District, Brest Region 225 063, Republic of Belarus (Tel: (016-31) 56-122, 56-132)

REFERENCES

Anon. (1991). Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park World Heritage Nomination. 15pp.

Charai, N.A. (1987). Belovezhskaya Pushcha. In Belorussian, English, French, German and Spanish. (Unseen).

MAB-Belarus. (1993). Belovezhskaya Pushcha Biosphere Reserve Nomination Form. 25pp.

Okolow, C. (1976). Bibliography of Bialowieza Forest, 1967-1972. Bialowieza. 164pp. (Unseen).

Okolow, C. (1983). Bibliography of Bialowieza Forest, 1973-1980. Bialowieza. 190pp. (Unseen).

Okolow, C. (1986). The Bialowieza Forest - the pearl of European Forests. Parks (11): 2-3. (Unseen).

Okolow, C. (1991). Bibliography of Bialowieza Forest, 1981-1985. Bialowieza. 148pp. (Unseen).

DATE August 1994