Particular attention is paid to the rehabilitation and protection of wetlands in Belarus

On February 2, 2024, a press conference on the topic «Ecology of Belarus. Conservation and rational use of wetlands» dedicated to World Wetlands Day was held in Minsk.

Belarus is one of the countries where wetlands occupy a large part of the territory. Swamps alone make up about 900.7 thousand hectares, of which 317.2 thousand hectares are protected areas. Today, 26 natural sites have the status of international importance. Their total area is 765.3 thousand hectares, or 3.7% of the territory of the country.

The state’s environmental policy is aimed at preserving existing wealth and returning lost wealth. Since December 2020, the law «On the protection and use of peatlands» has been in force in Belarus, one of the main objectives of which is the preservation of natural swamps. In 2023, the ecological rehabilitation of disturbed peatland «Pogonyanskoye-2» was carried out on an area of 5946.2 hectares in the Gomel region and the disturbed ecological rehabilitation of disturbed peatland was re-wetted on an area of about 100 hectares in the Mogilev region.

Preserving Belarusian wetlands in their natural state provides a range of ecosystem benefits, including:

• annual removal of about 900 thousand tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release of 630 thousand tons of oxygen into the atmosphere;
• saving more than 7 billion cubic meters of freshwater reserves and ensuring sustainable water supply to rivers and lakes;
• preservation of habitats/growth of flora and fauna species, including those included in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus.

The conservation and rational use of wetlands makes an important contribution to the achievement by the Republic of Belarus of Sustainable Development Goals 3, 12, 13, 15 and other SDGs.

Recording of the press conference «Ecology of Belarus. Conservation and rational use of wetlands» in video format is available at the link.