MINSK, 31 May (BelTA) – By 2015 Minsk Oblast will get more wildlife sanctuaries, said Anna Volozhinskaya, Deputy Chairwoman of the Minsk Oblast Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Committee, at a roundtable session on 30 May. In the near future four new national wildlife sanctuaries will be announced in Minsk Oblast. Those are the landscape wildlife sanctuaries Borisovsky (Borisov District and Smolevichi District) and Belaya Rus (Logoisk District), the water and marsh wildlife sanctuary Voronichsky Ostrov (Pukhovichi District), and the hydrological wildlife sanctuary Gaino-Brodnya (Smolevichi District). The number of local-level wildlife sanctuaries will rise. The habitat of kestrel (a rare bird in Belarus) will be protected. Minsk Oblast’s only kestrel colony is located in a pine tree forest on the eastern outskirt of the town of Machulishchi, Minsk District. Territorial integrity of this forest will be preserved, with special protection rules in place. According to the source, it is a unique case since wildlife sanctuaries are usually created in forests instead of urbanized territories, said Anna Volozhinskaya. She added that certain territories get protected if birds, animals or plants, which are in the Red Book, are found there. Unique natural landscapes and water systems are important, too. All in all, there are 245 protected territories in Minsk Oblast, with their total area as large as 249,000 hectares. Among them is the Berezinsky biosphere reserve, the national park Narochansky, 20 national and 33 local wildlife sanctuaries, multiple natural landmarks.

БЕЛТА