Belarus: nature and its protected areas

The Republic of Belarus, whose nature is very picturesque, is a country in Eastern Europe and borders on Poland on the western side. On its southern side is Ukraine, from the northwest - Latvia and Lithuania, and from the north-east and east - Russia. The territory of the republic is quite compact and is about 207 thousand square meters. Km. The nature of Belarus is famous for its enchanting plains, hills, forests and lakes.

Modern Belarus and its nature

The country's territory is almost entirely riddled with dense hydrographic grids of rivers, lakes and streams. Plain rivers, flowing gently along the vast valleys, are notable for their meandering and have swampy watersheds, as they flow through the swamps from the south of the country. The tenth part of the republic's area consists of river valleys, and in the direction of the south from the boundary of the glacier, there are many wide, shallow valleys. Therefore, the nature of the Republic of Belarus is famous for a large number of fresh lakes of various sizes and depths - there are more than 10 thousand. Most often, water bodies are formed in lake groups. The most famous of them are Ushach, Braslav and Narochanskaya.

The country is also famous for its forests, which occupy 40% of the entire territory. In the north of the Republic of Belarus nature abounds in alder and spruce, in the south - oak and pine, in the central part of it grows a lot of birch bark, hornbeam and oaks. Among them you can find berries and edible mushrooms. Especially in the forests of the country there are blueberries and cranberries. Also here grow viburnum, blueberries, raspberries, cranberries and mountain ash. The main asset is the forest fund of Belarus. It consists of over 9.4 hectares of plantations and grows annually, so the country is known as a forest.

As mentioned above, 10% of the area is occupied by unevenly distributed swamps and lowlands, overgrown with sedge and cereals, which are a unique ecosystem. Natural swamps of the largest size in Europe are located exactly in the Western Polesye. Transitional marshes with mosses, shrubs of Ledum and myrtle, and also with coniferous forests can be found in the Central part of Belarus. In the north, there are upper marshes with thickets of undercoat, cotton grass and sundew. All these areas serve as a reservoir, feeding rivers and mitigating the temperature differences in the middle of winter and summer. The wild nature of Belarus with its marshes has become an excellent habitat for many ungulates, valuable rodents and game.

Animals of nature in Belarus

The nature of Belarus with its mixed forests, meadow vegetation and marshes is a favorable habitat for deer, wild boars, moose, and also famous bison. There are predators such as martens, foxes, badgers, wolves, brown bears, otters and mink. Belarus, whose nature attracts many endangered species, has about 309 species of birds. On the nesting grounds, spoonbills, large cormorants, gray geese, swan-croakers and yellow herons again returned.

National parks and protected areas of the Republic of Belarus

The territory of the Republic of Belarus is one of the greenest countries in Europe and is famous for its unique reserves and reserves. Belovezhskaya Pushcha is an enormous massif of primeval forests. It stretches from Belarus to Poland through the watershed of Pripyat, the Neman and the Western Bug. In its total area of 150 hectares, there are about 55 species of large mammals and over 200 species of birds. But the main inhabitants of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha are the European bison (bison), which formerly were at the stage of extinction.

Also a unique protected area is the Berezan Reserve. It is a system of ancient pine forests, raised bogs and moraine hills. In addition to a large number of mammals and birds, there are 700 plant species.

In the southwestern part of the Gomel region, on the right side of the bank of the Pripyat River, is the national park "Pripyatsky". He became famous not only for his inhabitants in the primeval floodplain oak forests, but also for the ichthyofauna. Also, the national parks "Braslav Lakes" and "Narochansky" deserve attention.

Hunting and fishing in Belarus

Since the wild nature of Belarus is unique, in hunting Europe the country occupies a special place. The environment of primeval marshes and forests is favorable for many animals, which causes excitement in catching game. On the Belarusian land hunting traditions developed over the centuries, because the diversity of the animal world attracted the attention of even Russian tsars, Polish kings and princes of Kiev. At the present time, Belarus, whose nature is unique in its beauty, is open for hunting all year round. Since a significant number of valuable fish live in the lakes and rivers of the republic (carp, eel, bream, pike perch, snack, asp, perch, burbot, rudd, etc.), the popularity of fishing is increasing every day. Lovers and professionals of fishing will discover big rivers, such as Neman, Berezina, Dnepr, Viliya, Sozh, Western Dvina, Western Bug, Pripyat and Goryn.

Environmental protection in Belarus

The landscapes of the republic are unique in the diversity of flora and fauna, and also are habitats for many rare, endangered species, therefore most of the lands are protected. The whole territory is included in the zone, which is an ecological value for Central and Eastern Europe. That is why nature protection in Belarus extends to 4 national parks, a biosphere reserve and 84 national reserves. It is worth noting that there are 861 nature monuments of local and national importance on the territory that play a special role in conserving the resources of biological diversity.