Is Belavezhskaya Pushcha deprived of a Council of Europe diploma?

The Council of Europe has not formally revoked its diploma from the Belavezhskaya Puscha forest reserve, the European Radio for Belarus has learned. A resolution on this issue has been postponed indefintely, but the term of the diploma has indeed expired.

The Belarusian media reported earlier that the country’s oldest virgin forest did not have its Council of Europe’s diploma extended. Allegedly, both the Belarusian and Polish national parks did not get an extension of the diploma in early October.

The European Radio for Belarus decided to find out if Belarus was indeed deprived of this prestigious European diploma. Alena Penyaz, a Ministry of Nature and Environment spokesperson was categorical in refuting this information.

“The answer is no. This diploma was not revoked, because this issue was not considered at the recent session of the Council of Europe. The consideration of this issue was postponed for an indefinite period of time,” she said.

What benefits does this diploma give to a country? We posed this question to Vital Karanchuk, the head of national parks’ department at the Ministry of Nature and Environment.

“This is a status of Belarus. Possessing this diploma demonstrates the appreciation of the country’s efforts in preserving natural eco-systems and maintaining a biological and landscape diversity”.

Karanchuk also noted that apart from a prestigious status the diploma had no particular value.

“Apart from seeing our authority raised, I can’t recall that we would receive any huge grants because of this diploma. We got some back in the late 1990s. Presently, all our grant applications are routinely rejected, because they say Belarus is treated in a special way. So, we have not received anything”.

The European Radio for Belarus called the management of the national reserve. Dzmitry Byarnatski, the scientific assistant director, confirmed that diploma’s term had indeed expired but it could not be considered annulled unless the Council of Europe made a formal decision about it.

“This is a scheduled issue which arises every five years”.

The Byarezinski Biosphere Reserve also has a Council of Europe’s diploma. It was extended last year for the period through September 11, 2011.

Valery Iukovich, a scientific director there, also noted that the diploma basically just helps improve the image.

“Regarding grants or any assistance, this diploma doesn’t help much”.



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