Belarus has acceded to the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds. This decision is contained in Decree No. 333 of 21 July 2015, which was published today on the National Legal Portal, according to BELTA.
Belarus has acceded to the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds. This decision is contained in Decree No. 333 of 21 July 2015, which was published today on the National Legal Portal, according to BELTA.
The decree comes into force on 1 January 2016.
As explained by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, the agreement aims to prevent a decline in the populations of waterbirds that breed, migrate, and winter along the African-Eurasian migratory flyway, to restore bird populations that have already declined, and to ensure the effective and rational management of migratory bird populations at an international level.
The ranges of most waterbird species in the Western Palearctic extend within the European part of Russia, Belarus, and EU countries. Russia and Belarus are the main breeding grounds for these bird species, while Western Europe is where they overwinter, leading to the annual movement of vast numbers of birds between these regions – seasonal migrations. In total, this region is home to about 30 million ducks and about 4.8 million geese, which are game species and are intensively exploited both in their breeding, migration, and wintering grounds. According to approximate estimates, 5.5 million out of 30 million ducks in Eastern Europe are harvested during the hunting season, and over 7 million ducks are shot in Western Europe. A similar situation exists with geese. Out of a total population of 4.7-4.8 million birds, about 1 million are harvested annually in wintering grounds. In Belarus, 2-3 thousand birds are harvested during the spring migration, and about 320 thousand individuals are harvested in the European part of Russia, where the main part of the entire European population is concentrated for breeding.
"There are no quotas for harvesting migratory birds among European countries, and hunting seasons are not coordinated," explained the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection. According to specialists from the environmental protection agency, the main principle underlying the agreement is that the problem of conserving and sustainably using the resources of migratory waterbirds can only be solved comprehensively, with coordinated actions by countries in both their breeding ranges and wintering grounds, as well as along their migration routes.