In order to fulfil the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity, signed in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992, the Republic of Belarus has issued the above-mentioned Strategy on Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Biological Diversity for 2011-2020. Chapter 4 outlines the main problems in the sphere of conservation and sustainable utilization of biological diversity in the Republic of Belarus and argues that one of the main factors of natural origin is the climate change which results in tough competition between indigenous and foreign species of wild plants and animals, conditions favourable for illnesses and depredators. In conditions of the global climate change the Republic experiences decreasing number of areas for boreal species of wild plants and animals, while there appear some new species typical for steppe and forest-steppe zones, and the number of populations of some species of wild plants and animals of inundated, riverside and wetland ecosystems is decreasing. As far as human-caused factors are concerned, the most dangerous ones are the following: 1) Changing of the established types of extensive land-utilization; 2) Weeds of open natural meadows and lowland swamps with shrub vegetation; 3) Plowing of meadows, mechanized haymaking without observing the terms and rules set with the wild animals and plants conservation taken into account; 4) Polluting natural ecological systems; 5) Fragmentation, violation and degradation of natural wildlife habitual area as a result of high degree urbanization of separate regions and intensive development of the transport communication system; 6) Violating natural hydrological regime of natural ecosystems (rivers, swamps, lakes) due to irrigation and drainage measures; 7) Decrease of areas of forests, complex in their composition, including broadleaved forests, and substituting them with monodominant forest plantation; 8) Forest and peat fires, as well as fires caused by burning down grassland vegetation; 9) Anthropogenic stress, caused by recreation activity and tourism. Moreover, some species of wild plants with low degree of ecological flexibility are affected by radioactive contamination in the zone suffered as a result of the Chernobyl Atomic Power Station accident. Considering these factors, the aims of the present Strategy on Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Biological Diversity for 2011 to 2020 are as follows: 1) Preventing the decrease of the population and diversity of species of wild animals, plants and ecosystems; 2) Restoring rare and endangered species of wild animals and plants, their populations and genetic diversity, sustaining their number which is necessary for their sustainable existence; 3) Utilizing biological diversity in such a way and with such intensity so as not to lead in the longer term perspective to its depletion and so as to allow conserving its ability to satisfy economic, aesthetic and other needs of the present and future generations. These strategic aims are planned to be attained via complex measures with the following directions taken into account: 1) Improved legal basis and economic mechanisms of conservation and sustainable utilization of biological diversity (including reviewing the current regulatory legal acts and working new ones out for the sake of conservation and sustainable utilization of biological diversity); 2) Providing efficient biological diversity protection and the state regulating of its resources utilization including optimized system of specially protected natural sites, forming the national ecological network and providing of its functioning, announcing biosphere reservations, developing tourism at specially protected natural sites, with all the normative standards of permissible anthropogenic stress for these territories taken into account, and a network of “green routes” as an alternative type of biological diversity resources utilization, utilizing objects of the animal and vegetable world in such a way so as not to exhaust them in case of hunting, fishing and forestry activity, and other measures; 3) Developing the system of information and scientific support in the sphere conservation and sustainable utilization of biological diversity, raising the awareness level of the public, local citizens, representatives of the state authorities and other organizations as well as involving the public, local citizens, representatives of the state authorities and other organizations into the process of solving the issues in this sphere; 4) More active international cooperation in the sphere of conservation and sustainable utilization of biological diversity, including working out suggestions on entering into new international agreements in this sphere and requesting international technical assistance for the sake of carrying out the corresponding projects. As far as the implementation of the Strategy is concerned, the state authorities and other organizations are planned to act in accordance with the enclosed Action Plan. The text consists of 7 chapters as follows: Introduction (1); Biological diversity of the Republic of Belarus (2); State administration in the sphere of conservation and sustainable utilization of biological diversity (3); Main problems in the sphere of conservation and sustainable utilization of biological diversity in the Republic of Belarus (4); Aims and main directions of the Strategy (5); The expected results of the Strategy (6); Mechanism of the strategy implementation (7). One Appendix is enclosed laying down the Action Plan for the present Strategy.
白俄罗斯 · 2010-11-11