Restoration of the animal world. Protection of flora and fauna in international treaties AND human health
The solution of environmental problems, and, consequently, the prospects for the sustainable development of civilization are largely associated with the competent use of renewable resources and various functions of ecosystems, and their management. This direction is the most important way for a sufficiently long and relatively inexhaustible use of nature, combined with the preservation and maintenance of the stability of the biosphere, and hence the human environment.
Each species is unique. It contains information about the development of flora and fauna, which is of great scientific and applied importance. Since all the possibilities of using a given organism in the long term are often unpredictable, the entire gene pool of our planet (with the possible exception of some pathogenic organisms dangerous to humans) is subject to strict protection. The need to protect the gene pool from the standpoint of the concept of sustainable development (“co-evolution”) is dictated not so much by economic as by moral and ethical considerations. Humanity alone will not survive.
It is useful to recall one of B. Commoner's environmental laws: "Nature knows best!" Until recently, the possibilities of using the gene pool of animals that were unforeseen are now being demonstrated by bionics, thanks to which there are numerous improvements in engineering structures based on the study of the structure and functions of the organs of wild animals. It has been established that some invertebrates (mollusks, sponges) have the ability to accumulate a large amount of radioactive elements and pesticides. As a result, they can be bioindicators of environmental pollution and help humans solve this important problem.
Protection of the plant gene pool. Being an integral part of the general problem of protection of the PSO, the protection of the plant gene pool is a set of measures to preserve the entire species diversity of plants - carriers of the hereditary heritage of productive or scientifically or practically valuable properties.
It is known that under the influence of natural selection and through sexual reproduction of individuals in the gene pool of each species or population, the most useful properties for the species are accumulated; they are in gene combinations. Therefore, the tasks of using natural flora are of great importance. Our modern grain, fruit, vegetable, berry, fodder, industrial, ornamental crops, the centers of origin of which were established by our outstanding compatriot N.I. Vavilov, lead their genealogy either from wild ancestors, or are creations of science, but based on natural gene structures. By using the hereditary properties of wild plants, completely new types of useful plants have been obtained. Through hybrid selection, perennial wheat and grain fodder hybrids were created. According to scientists, about 600 species of wild plants can be used in the selection of agricultural crops from the flora of Russia.
The protection of the gene pool of plants is carried out by creating reserves, natural parks, botanical gardens; formation of a gene pool of local and introduced species; study of biology, ecological needs and competitiveness of plants; ecological assessment of the plant habitat, forecasts of its changes in the future. Thanks to the reserves, Pitsunda and Eldar pines, pistachio, yew, boxwood, rhododendron, ginseng, etc. have been preserved.
Protection of the gene pool of animals. The change in living conditions under the influence of human activity, accompanied by direct persecution and extermination of animals, leads to the impoverishment of their species composition and a reduction in the number of many species. In 1600 there were approximately 4230 species of mammals on the planet, by our time 36 species have disappeared, and 120 species are in danger of extinction. Of the 8684 bird species, 94 have disappeared and 187 are endangered. The situation with subspecies is no better: since 1600, 64 subspecies of mammals and 164 subspecies of birds have disappeared, 223 subspecies of mammals and 287 subspecies of birds are endangered.
Protection of the human gene pool. For this, various scientific directions have been created, such as:
1) ecotoxicology- a branch of toxicology (the science of poisons), which studies the ingredient composition, features of distribution, biological action, activation, deactivation of harmful substances in the environment;
2) medical genetic counseling in special medical institutions to determine the nature and consequences of the action of ecotoxicants on the human genetic apparatus in order to give birth to healthy offspring;
3) screening- selection and testing for mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of environmental factors (human environment).
Environmental pathology- the doctrine of human diseases, in the occurrence and development of which the leading role is played by unfavorable environmental factors in combination with other pathogenic factors.
Animal world- this is a collection of all species and individuals of wild animals (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, as well as insects, mollusks and other invertebrates) that inhabit a certain territory or environment and are in a state of natural freedom.
According to the Federal Law "On the Wildlife" (1995), the basic concepts related to the protection and use of wildlife are formulated as follows:
object of the animal world - organisms of animal origin or their population;
biological diversity of the animal world - the diversity of objects of the animal world within the same species, between species and in ecosystems;
stable state of the animal world - the existence of objects of the animal world for an indefinitely long time;
sustainable use of objects of the animal world - the use of objects of the animal world, which does not lead to the depletion of the biological diversity of the animal world in the long term and which preserves the ability of the animal world to reproduce and sustainably exist.
The animal world is an integral element of the environment and biological diversity of the Earth, a renewable natural resource, an important regulating and stabilizing component of the biosphere.
The main ecological function of animals is participation in biotic cycle substances and energy. The stability of the ecosystem is provided primarily by animals, as the most mobile element.
It is necessary to realize that the animal world is not only an important component of the natural ecological system and at the same time the most valuable biological resource. It is also very important that all kinds of animals form the genetic fund of the planet, all of them are necessary and useful. There are no stepchildren in nature, just as there are no absolutely useful and absolutely harmful animals. Everything depends on their number, living conditions and a number of other factors. One of the varieties 100 thousand species of various flies - housefly, is a carrier of a number of contagious diseases. At the same time, flies feed a huge number of animals (small birds, toads, spiders, lizards, etc.). Only a few species (ticks, pest rodents, etc.) are subject to strict control.
Flora protection
With the destruction of the plant world, the quality of life of millions of people is declining. Moreover, as a result of the destruction of vegetation, which served people as a source of energy for domestic needs and many other benefits, the very existence of mankind is threatened. For example, if the destruction of tropical rainforests is not stopped, then from 10 to 20% of the animal and plant life of our planet will be destroyed.
Active organizers of the study of rare and endemic species, including wild relatives of the main species of cultivated plants, are called upon to be botanical gardens located in different climatic zones. It is necessary to remove the threat of destruction of these plants and make them available for wide practical use in breeding and crop production. The work of nature reserves and sanctuaries created in different zones of the country for the protection of botanical objects, mainly the flora of forests, meadows, steppes and deserts, including rare endemic plants, which are of undoubted interest for understanding the evolutionary process, is very important.
Due to the fact that today it is said about the need to preserve the biosphere as a whole as the main condition for life on Earth, biosphere reserves play a special role. The concept of a biosphere reserve was adopted in 1971 by the UNESCO program "Man and the Biosphere". Biosphere reserves are a kind of the highest form of protected areas, involving the creation of a single international network of reserves with a complex purpose: the preservation of ecological and genetic diversity in nature, scientific research, environmental monitoring, environmental education.
Protecting areas of natural vegetation, not only preserves the flora, but also solves a whole range of other important tasks: regulating the water balance of the territory, protecting soil from erosion, protecting wildlife, and maintaining a healthy environment for human life.
The 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development endorsed the Principles for Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Development of All Types of Forests. This paper recognized for the first time the important role of non-tropical forests in maintaining the global balance of carbon uptake and oxygen release. The main purpose of the Principles is to promote the rational use, conservation and development of forests and the implementation of their multi-purpose and complementary functions and uses.
The UN Conference on Environment and Development's Statement of Principles on Forests is the first global agreement on forests. It takes into account the needs of both the protection of forests as an environment and cultural environment, and the use of trees and other forms of forest life for economic development.
The forest principles enshrined in the Statement include the following:
all countries should take part in "greening the world" by planting and conserving forests;
countries have the right to use forests for the needs of their socio-economic development. Such use should be based on national policies consistent with sustainable development objectives;
forests should be used in a way that meets the social, economic, environmental, cultural and spiritual needs of present and future generations;
the benefits of biotechnology products and genetic materials obtained from forests should be shared on mutually agreed terms with the countries in which these forests are located;
planted forests are sustainable sources of renewable energy and industrial raw materials. In developing countries, the use of wood as a fuel is especially important. These needs must be met through the rational use of forests and the planting of new trees;
national programs should protect unique forests, including old forests, as well as forests of cultural, spiritual, historical or religious value;
countries need sound forest management plans based on environmentally friendly recommendations.
The purpose of the International Tropical Timber Agreement of 1983 is to provide an effective framework for cooperation and consultation between tropical timber producers and consumers, to promote the expansion and diversification of the international trade in tropical timber, to encourage and support research and development for the sustainable management of forests and the development of timber resources, and also encouraging the development of national policies aimed at the long-term use and conservation of tropical forests and their genetic resources, to maintain the ecological balance in the respective regions.
According to the International Plant Protection Convention of 1951, each member establishes an official plant protection organization for the purpose of:
inspections of cultivated areas and lots of plants in international trade for the presence or occurrence of plant pests or diseases;
issuance of certificates of phytosanitary status and origin of plants and plant products;
conducting research in the field of plant protection, etc.
In accordance with Art. 1 of the Convention, the contracting parties undertake to take legislative, technical and administrative measures to ensure joint and effective action aimed at preventing the introduction and spread of pests that damage plants and plant products, and in order to promote the adoption of appropriate measures aimed at combating with them.
The Parties to the Convention exercise strict control over the import and export of plants and plant products, applying, when necessary, bans, inspections and destruction of shipments.
The 1959 Agreement on Cooperation in the Application of Plant Quarantine and Their Protection from Pests and Diseases authorizes its participants to take the necessary measures against pests, weeds and diseases. They exchange information on plant pests and diseases and their control. States shall cooperate in the application of uniform phytosanitary regulations for the import and export of plant materials from one country to another.
There is the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization, established in 1951, whose members are 34 states of Europe, Africa and Asia. Objectives of the organization: implementation of international cooperation in preventing the spread of pests and diseases of plants and plant products. The main activity is carried out in the form of information exchange, unification of phytosanitary rules, registration of pesticides and their certification.
The first organizational task for the protection of rare and endangered species is their inventory and accounting both on a global scale and in individual countries. Without this, it is impossible to proceed either to the theoretical development of the problem, or to practical recommendations for saving individual species. The task is not easy, and even 30-35 years ago the first attempts were made to compile first regional and then world reports of rare and endangered species of animals and birds. However, the information was either too laconic and contained only a list of rare species, or, on the contrary, very cumbersome, since it included all available data on biology and presented a historical picture of the reduction in their ranges.
In 1948, the IUCN united and headed the work on the protection of wildlife of state, scientific and public organizations in most countries of the world. Among his first decisions in 1949 was the creation of a permanent Species Survival Commission, or, as it is commonly called in Russian-language literature, the Commission on Rare Species.
The tasks of the Commission included studying the status of rare endangered species of animals and plants, developing and preparing draft international and interethnic conventions and treaties, compiling a cadastre of such species and developing appropriate recommendations for their protection.
The main goal of the Commission was to create a world annotated list (cadastre) of animals that are threatened with extinction for one reason or another. Sir Peter Scott, chairman of the Commission, suggested that the list be called the Red Data Book to give it a defiant and capacious meaning, since red symbolizes a danger signal.
The first edition of the IUCN Red List was published in 1963. It was a "pilot" edition with a small circulation. Its two volumes include information on 211 species and subspecies of mammals and 312 species and subspecies of birds. The Red Book was sent according to the list to prominent statesmen and scientists. As new information was accumulated, as planned, additional sheets were sent to the addressees to replace the outdated ones.
Gradually, the IUCN Red List was improved and replenished. The last, fourth "type" edition, published in 1978-1980, includes 226 species and 79 subspecies of mammals, 181 species and 77 subspecies of birds, 77 species and 21 subspecies of reptiles, 35 species and 5 subspecies of amphibians, 168 species and 25 subspecies of fish . Among them, 7 restored species and subspecies of mammals, 4 - birds, 2 species of reptiles. The reduction in the number of forms in the latest edition of the Red Book was not only due to successful protection, but also as a result of more accurate information received in recent years.
Work on the IUCN Red List continues. This is a permanent document, as the living conditions of animals change and more and more new species can be in a catastrophic situation. At the same time, the efforts made by a person give good results, as evidenced by its green leaves.
The IUCN Red Book, like the Red Lists, is not a legal (legal) document, but is exclusively advisory in nature. It covers the animal world on a global scale and contains protection recommendations addressed to countries and governments in whose territories a threatening situation has developed for animals.
Thus, relations in the field of protection and use of the animal and plant world in order to ensure biological diversity, sustainable existence, preserve the genetic fund of wild animals and protect the animal and plant world are regulated by both universal and bilateral agreements, in most of which our state participates.
The international legal protection of flora and fauna is developing in the following main areas: protection of natural complexes, protection of rare and endangered species of animals and plants, and ensuring the rational use of natural resources.
Biodiversity is the totality of all forms of life inhabiting our planet. This is what makes the Earth different from other planets in the solar system. This is the richness and diversity of life and its processes, including the diversity of living organisms and their genetic differences, as well as the diversity of their places of existence.
Over the past 400 years, 484 animal species and 654 plant species have disappeared. According to the UNEP Global Biodiversity Assessment (1995), more than 30,000 animal and plant species are threatened with extinction.
At least 180 thousand species of animals live within Russia, tens of thousands of species of flora grow. 463 species of animals, 603 species of plants, 32 species of bryophytes, 20 species of fungi, 29 species of lichens are listed in the Red Book of the country. Over the past 400 years, 9 species and subspecies of mammals and birds have disappeared from the territory of Russia. In the list of species exterminated by humans that lived on the territory of Russia, there are also those that, due to the quality of their gene pool, could be used to improve breeds and breed new domestic animals: tour, steppe tarpan, sea cow (the most promising species for domestication among marine mammals) .
Wildlife is in a threatening state. Every tenth species of birds, the fifth - plants and mammals, the fourth - reptiles and amphibians are endangered. At least four species of mammals and three species of birds have disappeared from the fauna of the country in 15-18 years, and the number of one and a half dozen species of birds and animals does not exceed 100-200 individuals.
According to paleontologists, the average lifespan of a bird species is about 2 million years, and that of mammals is about 600 thousand years. Man has become a kind of "catalyst" for the process of extinction of species, increasing the rate of extinction hundreds of times.
Reasons for disappearance:
- 1) rapid population growth and economic development;
- 2) increase in human migration, growth in international trade and tourism;
- 3) increasing pollution of natural waters, soil and air;
- 4) anthropogenic change of habitats and unintentional destruction (destruction, destruction and pollution of habitats);
- 5) insufficient attention to the long-term consequences of actions that destroy the conditions for the existence of living organisms that exploit natural ones;
- 6) excessive removal and extermination of animals and plants;
- 7) the introduction of alien species (the introduction of genetically modified varieties of plants and animal breeds, the consequences and extent of the impact of which are unpredictable);
- 8) the spread of animal and plant diseases.
The main reasons for such a catastrophic state of wildlife are anthropogenic change in habitats and unintentional destruction. Thus, at least 14 billion juvenile fish perish every year in the country's water intakes. However, only 25--30% of all water intakes are equipped with water protection devices. Mention should be made of the large-scale ecological catastrophe in the Barents Sea in 1987-1988. Here in 1967-1975. immoderate fishing undermined the resources of herring and cod. Due to their absence, the fishing fleet switched to catching capelin, which completely undermined the food base not only for cod, but also for seals and seabirds. On the shores of the Barents Sea, a few years ago, most of the hatched guillemots and gull chicks died of starvation. Hungry harp seals have become entangled in nets by the tens of thousands off the coast of Norway, where they flocked from their traditional habitats in the Barents Sea in a desperate attempt to escape starvation. Now the sea is empty: catches have decreased tenfold, and the restoration of the destroyed ecosystem in the next decade is impossible. Fish from a number of the country's waters are becoming dangerous to eat due to high levels of heavy metals. In the country, more hares, partridges and quails die under agricultural machinery than hunters shoot them.
The main reasons for the need to preserve genetic diversity.
- 1. All species (no matter how harmful or unpleasant they may be) have the right to exist. This provision is written in the "World Charter for Nature", adopted by the UN General Assembly. The enjoyment of nature, its beauty and diversity is of the highest value, not expressed in quantitative terms. Diversity is the basis for the evolution of life forms. The decline in species and genetic diversity undermines the further improvement of life forms on Earth.
- 2. The economic reason for the conservation of biodiversity is due to the use of wild biota to meet the various needs of society in the field of industry, agriculture, science and education (for breeding domestic plants and animals, manufacturing medicines, as well as for providing food, fuel, energy, timber, etc.). d.).
Preservation, reproduction and study of flora and fauna are protected areas of the country. These include nature reserves, protected hunting grounds, natural national parks.
The main tasks are:
- - preservation and restoration of the natural habitat;
- - protection, restoration and reproduction of animals and plants in their natural habitat;
- - study of nature reserves;
- - familiarization of the population with nature and the work of reserves;
Mineral resources, their protection and rational use.
Mineral raw materials are the material basis for the development of energy, industrial and agricultural industries. Mineral resources are an important potential for the country's economic development.
For a long time, mankind has been drawing in huge quantities of mineral raw materials from a common pantry - the earth's bowels. Therefore, a significant part of the rich ores and deposits occurring directly at the surface of the Earth or at shallow depths have already been depleted. Today, you have to pay much more for each new ton. Society faces a serious and urgent task of careful and rational use of the planet's mineral wealth.
Every year, 100 billion tons of mineral resources, including fuel, are extracted from the bowels of the earth, of which 90 billion tons turn into waste.
Mineral resources are natural substances of mineral origin used to obtain energy, raw materials, materials and serve as the mineral resource base of the economy. Currently, more than 200 types of mineral resources are used. Stocks of individual species are not the same. The volume of production is constantly growing and new deposits are being developed.
Natural resources are divided into practically inexhaustible ones (the energy of the sun, tides, internal heat, atmospheric air, water); renewable (soil, plant, wildlife resources) and non-renewable (minerals, habitat, river energy).
Subsoil protection means:
- - resource saving (prevention of losses during the extraction, transportation of minerals, their enrichment and processing, use of finished products.);
- - scientifically substantiated rational and careful use of minerals;
- - the most complete, technically accessible and economically feasible extraction;
- - recycling;
- - elimination of damage caused to natural landscapes.
Every year, the plant world, like nature in general, suffers more and more from human activities. Plant areas, especially forests, are shrinking all the time, and territories are being used to build various objects (houses, enterprises). All this leads to changes in various ecosystems and to the disappearance of many species of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. Because of this, the food chain is disrupted, which contributes to the migration of many animal species, as well as to their extinction. In the future, climate change will follow, because there will no longer be active factors that maintain the state of the environment.
Reasons for the disappearance of flora
There are many reasons why vegetation is destroyed:
- construction of new settlements and expansion of already built cities;
- construction of factories, factories and other industrial enterprises;
- laying roads and pipelines;
- conducting various communication systems;
- creation of fields and pastures;
- mining;
- building reservoirs and dams.
All these objects occupy millions of hectares, and earlier this area was covered with trees and grasses. In addition, climate change is also a significant reason for the disappearance of flora.
The need for nature conservation
Since people actively use natural resources, very soon they can deteriorate and be exhausted. Including the plant world may die. To avoid this, nature must be protected. For these purposes, botanical gardens, national parks and reserves are being created. The territory of these objects is protected by the state, all the flora and fauna here is in its original form. Since nature is untouched here, plants have the opportunity to grow and develop normally, increasing their distribution areas.
One of the most important actions for the protection of the plant world is the creation of the Red Book. Such a document exists in every state. It lists all plant species that are disappearing and the authorities of each country must protect this flora, trying to preserve the populations.
Outcome
There are many ways to preserve the plant world on the planet. Of course, each state must protect nature, but first of all, everything depends on the people themselves. We ourselves can refuse to destroy plants, teach our children to love nature, protect every tree and flower from death. People are destroying nature, so we all have to correct this mistake, and only realizing this, we need to make every effort and save the plant world on the planet.
The protection of animal and plant resources is aimed both at maintaining the optimal level of the number of economically valuable game animals, and at preserving the entire species diversity of animals and plants. The solution of this problem has become a big and urgent problem, since modern civilization is attacking wild nature on a wide front, as a result of which irreversible changes in the natural environment occur. At the same time, the number of most wild vertebrates, as well as other animal species, began to decrease sharply, and some species completely disappear. The same problem applies to many plants. This process of depletion of fauna and flora under the influence of the negative impacts of anthropogenic factors intensifies every year and acquires a global character.
From the beginning of the seventeenth century more than 20 species of terrestrial vertebrates disappeared on the territory of Belarus. Among them are two species extinct on earth: a forest bull - a tour and a wild horse - a forest tarpan. The sable, fallow deer, bustard also ceased to be found. River lamprey and 11 species of fish, including beluga, Russian sturgeon, and salmon, have disappeared from Belarusian rivers. A number of species have been exterminated by humans, while others have disappeared due to a global reduction in their range or changes in habitats. The Belovezhskaya bison, a kind of symbol of Belarus, has been preserved only in captivity; work has been carried out to naturalize it.
As a result, at present, within the framework of the general problem of protecting the animal and plant world, a completely independent direction is being put forward - the protection of rare and endangered species of animals and plants.
Based on the materials of many years of research by Belarusian scientists, in order to protect and increase rare and endangered species of animals and plants, the Red Book of the Byelorussian SSR was established back in 1979 by a special Decree of the Council of Ministers of the BSSR. The first edition of the Red Book included 80 species of animals and 85 species of plants. Currently, 182 species of animals, 180 species of plants, 17 species of fungi and 17 species of lichens are subject to protection.
The problem of protecting rare species can be solved by preserving natural ecosystems and all their components. The most effective measure of protection is the preservation of their habitats, which can be achieved, in particular, by organizing a network of specially protected natural areas, for example, nature reserves.
The document that accumulates all the information about the state of natural complexes of reserves is the Chronicle of Nature, one of the sections of which is Rare, Endangered, Relic Species. Particular attention is paid to identifying and clarifying the habitats of plants, especially rare and endangered species. This work is carried out by compiling "dot maps" of the ranges of modern localities of these species.
One more thing. The conservation of rare and endangered species of animals and plants requires close international cooperation. Many rare species of animals, fish, migratory birds, as well as terrestrial vertebrates and invertebrates, migrating, may end up in different countries of the world. Historically, the Paris Convention of 1902, dedicated to the problem of the protection of birds useful for agriculture, is considered to be the first document in the field of international wildlife protection. Since 1960, a new, broader international Convention for the Protection of Birds has been in force within the European Region. In accordance with which year-round protection of endangered species of birds has been established, certain restrictions have been introduced on their capture and shooting.
In 1971, the Convention on the Protection of Wetlands of International Importance was signed in the city of Ramsar (Iran). As a rule, nature reserves formed the core of these lands. By the Decree of the Council of Ministers of July 28, 1999, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus is defined as the body responsible for fulfilling the requirements arising from this Convention. Scientific support for the implementation of the Convention is entrusted to the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. In 1999, it was supposed to identify wetlands on the territory of the republic that meet the requirements of this Convention, and approve a list of objects for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance.
In March 1973, Washington adopted the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which came into force on July 1, 1975, sometimes referred to as the Washington Convention (CITES from the English abbreviation). CITES by its nature is a global convention and currently more than 110 states, including the Republic of Belarus, participate in it. This Convention is based on the List of rare and endangered animal and plant species agreed by the parties, the trade of which may damage their natural populations and, therefore, the trade of which must be controlled through agreed international procedures. The latter include, in the main, the issuance of permits established by the countries - parties to the Convention of international standard, according to which export, import and re-export are carried out. The Convention applies to both species and their parts and derivatives.
In accordance with the requirements of the Convention, each party to CITES appoints a CITES Administrative and Scientific Authority, which, before issuing an export, import and re-export permit, must comply with certain procedures. The result of the action of CITES is the establishment of effective control over the trade in rare and endangered species of animals and plants.
In Belarus, permits for the movement of animal and plant species across the customs border are issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus as the CITES Administrative Authority. The Convention on Biological Diversity, which was opened for signature on June 5, 1992 at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, also became a decisive moment in the development of international legal protection of flora and fauna. The Republic of Belarus, among more than 140 states of the world, signed on June 5, 1992, and on June 10, 1993 ratified this Convention. After ratification by 30 countries, the Convention entered into force in 1993. The main objective of the Convention is the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits associated with the use of genetic resources. To fulfill international obligations in accordance with the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of August 28, 1995, under the leadership of the Republican Commission on Biological Diversity, drafts of the National Strategy and Action Plan for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity were developed, approved by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of June 26 1997. A certain role in the protection of rare and endangered species of animals and plants is played by agreements within the framework of the Interstate Ecological Council of the CIS countries, which are aimed at developing and implementing a coordinated policy in the field of ecology and environmental protection. These, first of all, include the Agreement on cooperation in the field of ecology and environmental protection of the CIS member states, concluded on February 8, 1992.
LITERATURE:
1. On the protection and use of wildlife: the Law of the Republic of Belarus, September 19, 1996 // Vedamasti Vyarkhounaga Council of the Republic of Belarus. 1996, No. 3, art. 571.
2. Convention on Biological Diversity: Ratified by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus, June 10, 1993 // Vedamasti Vyarkhounaga Council of the Republic of Belarus. 1993, No. 29.
3. Convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora // Collection of normative documents on environmental protection. - Minsk: BelNIC "Ecology", 1997. Issue 16, part І.
4. Environment and natural resources of the Republic of Belarus. Minsk, 1998.
