The protected areas of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

are governed by the 1994 law "About the Protected Nature Areas" (Об особо охраняемых природных территориях). ЗАКОН РЕСПУБЛИКИ БЕЛАРУСЬ 20 октября 1994 г. № 3335-XІІ Об особо охраняемых природных территориях
/ref> and its amendments.

Overview

The law recognizes the following categories: *''

zapovednik Zapovednik (russian: заповедник, plural , from the Russian , 'sacred, prohibited from disturbance, committed o protect committed o heritage; ) is an established term on the territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area whi ...

'' (a term similar to "

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

") *

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

*'' zakaznik'' (nature sanctuary (UNESCO terminology), game reserve) * Nature monument *international protected area (особо охраняемая территория международного значения); a 2008 amendment Some zapovedniks are also internationally recognized as biosphere reserves. A number of areas are classified as

Ramsar wetlands of international importance This is the list of Wetlands of International Importance as defined by the Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scienti ...

. The first ''zapovednik'' was established in 1925, then in the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

. In 1939 the Belovezhskaya Pushcha zapovednik was created, in the territory added to BSSR after the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subse ...

. The Pripyat nature reserve was created in 1969 and Palessya nature reserve in 1988. In 1991 Belovezhskaya Pushcha was classified as national park. In 1996, the Pripyat nature reserve was classified as the Pripyatsky National Park

List of protected areas

In 2008, there were five ''zapovedniks'' and national parks, 84 ''zakazniks'' of national significance, 349 ''zakazniks'' of local significance, 305 nature monuments of national significance, and 544 nature monuments of local significance. *

List of national parks of Belarus This is a list of national parks of Belarus. It also lists main nature reserves. There are currently four national parks in Belarus. The Belavezhskaya Pushcha National Park is a trans-boundary park between Belarus and Poland. Together parks co ...

* , Minsk Region and Vitebsk Region, . * Polesie State Radioecological Reserve,

Gomel Region Gomel Region or Gomel Oblast or Homiel Voblasts ( be, Го́мельская во́бласць, Homielskaja vobłasć, russian: Гомельская область, Gomelskaya oblast) is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center i ...

, . This reserve is heavily contaminated by the radioactive

fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

from the

Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...

. It borders

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. *

Białowieża Forest Białowieża Forest; lt, Baltvyžių giria; pl, Puszcza Białowieska ; russian: Беловежская пуща, Belovezhskaya Pushcha is a forest on the border between Belarus and Poland. It is one of the last and largest remaining pa ...

National park and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

biosphere reserve *

Naliboki forest Naliboki Forest ( be, Налібоцкая пушча, Nalibotskaya Pushcha; russian: Налибокская пуща, Nalibokskaya Pushcha) (''pushcha'': wild forest, primeval forest)) is a large forest complex in northwestern Belarus, on the r ...

References

External links

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