National parks of Belarus
There are four national parks in Belarus. The Belavezhskaya Pushcha National Park is a trans-boundary park between Belarus and Poland. Together parks cover more than 3,300 km2 (1,300 sq mi).
National parks
edit| Name | Belarusian name | Oblast | Area | Established |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belavezhskaya Pushcha National Park | Нацыянальны парк "Белавежская пушча" | Brest Oblast and Grodno Oblast | 1,500.69 km2 (579.42 sq mi) | 1991 (1932) |
| Braslau Lakes National Park | Нацыянальны парк "Браслаўскія азёры" | Vitebsk Oblast | 691.15 km2 (266.85 sq mi) | 1995 |
| Prypyatski National Park | Нацыянальны парк "Прыпяцкі" | Gomel Oblast | 858.41 km2 (331.43 sq mi) | 1996 |
| Narachanski National Park | Нацыянальны парк "Нарачанскі" | Grodno Oblast, Minsk Oblast and Vitebsk Oblast | 1,178.00 km2 (454.83 sq mi) | 1999 |
Park entry fees
editAll parks in Belarus are free.
Reservations
editCampgrounds may be reserved in advance. Booking is possible on local websites.
Respect
editIn short: Leave-no-trace camping is always advised in national parks.
Disturbing wildlife is illegal in a national park. Leave rocks, plants, bones and antlers as you found them. You may need to pack out any rubbish with you when you leave; if there are no latrines in a sensitive location, excrement should be packed out or buried. Anything left behind in the far north may take a very long time to decay, if it's biodegradable at all.
Many parks are in remote or forested locations with essentially no local firefighting capability. A cook stove is preferable to an open camp fire, due to risk of wildfires. Keep any fires small enough to burn to ash before you leave. Never build a fire on moss or Arctic tundra where it can spread underground.
Do not leave markers, messages or other manmade indicators behind; leave the parkland in its natural, untouched state for the next voyager. In some wilderness locations without marked permanent camp sites, leave-no-trace camping is advised.