Geographical Location

Belovezhzskaya Pushcha National Park (52°30'-52°59'N, 23°35'-24°20'E) is a World Heritage Site 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 20 kilometers (km) from the reserve. Belovezhzskaya Pushcha belongs to the biogeographical province of Middle European Forest.

Date and History of Establishment

• XIV century: limited hunting rights granted throughout Pushcha forest;
• 1538: first recorded piece of legislation on the protection of the forest;
• 1541: the forest declared a hunting reserve for the protection of European bison;
• 1557: the forest charter issued, under which a special board to examine the rights of forest usage was established.
• 1917: the forest nationalized and put under the jurisdiction of the state with the last private owners of the Pushcha being the Russian Tsars;
• 1944: Pushcha granted protection under: Decision No. 657 of the Union of People's Commissars, 9 October 1944;
• 1957: Pushcha granted protection under: Order No. 2252-P of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Council of Ministers, 9 August 1957;
• 1991: Pushcha granted protection under: Decree No.352 of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) Council of Ministers, 16 September 1991.
• 1992: the forest inscribed on the World Heritage List;
• 1993: internationally recognised as a Biosphere Reserve under United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Programme.

Area

Map of Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park. (Source: Belorussian Initiative Group "Belovezhskaya Pushcha - XXI century")

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

Land Tenure

State owned.

Altitude

Ranges from 145 meters (m) to 202 m.

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.

Climate

Conditions are continental with an annual rainfall of 620 millimeters (mm) and mean annual temperature of 7 degrees Celsius (°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, favoring ]]plant]] growth occurs for 205 days per year.

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 1,500 fungi species.

Fauna

European Bison. (Source: Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park.)

Represented by typical European forest fauna communities with 55 mammalian, 212 avifaunal, 11 amphibian and seven reptile species. Over 8,000 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.

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-Jaсque Russeau, painter N.S. Samokish, Byelorussian poet N.A Gusovsky, and the Russian revolutionary writers A.I. Gertsen and N.P. Ogarev.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Presently, there is 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 15,700 ha; buffer zone 71,400 ha (including recreational area 10,700ha, and administrative and economic area 3700 ha); and transition area 90,000 ha.

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.

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 fertilizer 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, 1,200 of which are permitted to graze over 11,000 ha of forest within the reserve. Other provisions made for farming within the buffer zone include 1,500 ha of hay meadows for intensive cultivation, in addition to 240 ha of arable land and 750 ha of hay meadows for cultivation by park employees. Further disturbance to the hydrological balance has also been caused by land reclamation projects which have been underway since the 1960s, with over 90 km of canals so far constructed within the reserve. These canals threaten one of the most economically important species in the forest, the Norway spruce, which is extremely sensitive to changes in the ground water table.

Increased economic pressure, 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.

Staff

197 full time staff and 25 researchers. Of these, 180 are concerned with administration and resource management and 17 with training activities.

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.

IUCN Management Category

• V (Protected Landscape)
• Biosphere Reserve
• Natural World Heritage Site - Criterion iii
  

Further Reading

• 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).