By Olga Belova
Preparations for the new edition are underway, explains Natalia Minchenko, the Head of the Ministry for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection’s Department for Biological and Landscape Diversity. “In 2013-2014, scientists will be studying rare species, to make proposals for alteration. By late 2014, we should have a new edition of the Red Book.”
Experts will be assessing developmental trends and existing threats to rare plants and animals, while monitoring changes in population and contributory factors.
Ms. Minchenko believes that some species could be removed from the Red Book, noting, “Vendace fish, for example, are currently registered in our Red Book, yet are common in Lithuania, caught on their side of Lake Drisvyaty. Aspects such as these require discussion.”
She continues, “The list of rare and endangered plants and animals is constantly being updated, with nine new species of plants and ten new mushrooms added in early 2012.
Some have been discovered in Belarus for the first time while others, previously thought to have vanished, have been rediscovered. Many are subject to protection, in line with international conventions.”
