More lands of Belovezhskaya Pushcha to be added to UNESCO World Heritage List

        More lands of Belovezhskaya Pushcha might be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, Deputy Director for Research of the National Park Vasily Arnolbik told media. “Tests and studies of Belovezhskaya Pushcha initiated by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee have shown that the National Park has been underappreciated,” Vasily Arnolbik said. It turned out that much of its territory, which was not included in the World Heritage List, deserves to be on it.” Belovezhskaya Pushcha is the last remaining primary deciduous and mixed forest of the European lowlands,and is the home of some remarkable animal life," said the representative of the National Park.
       One of the reasons for extending the boundaries of the forest on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is the adoption of the new criteria for the evaluation of natural sites. Earlier Belovezhskaya Pushcha came only under one of them and was protected as the site of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. "But since Belovezhskaya Pushcha is home to many unique plant and animal species, it meets two new criteria of natural value," said researcher at the National Park Vyacheslav Kravchuk.