Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change in Belarus
Fifteen years ago, the Bartenikha fen mire (peatlands) in Belarus had become a virtual desert landscape. The many plants and birds that used to thrive in this delicate wetland ecosystem had disappeared. Years of exploiting its valuable reserves of peat, which is extracted for use as fuel and for producing fertilizers, had left the fen mire drained of water, and of life.
Then, in 2006, UNDP and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) launched a joint project targeting peatlands across Belarus that, like Bartenikha, had been degraded by commercial and agricultural exploitation. Over four years, the project saved 28,200 hectares of peat swamps, representing some 6.4 percent of the country's land. The aim: restore the land to its previous levels of rich biodiversity and mitigate the effects of climate change.
About one third of global soil carbon is stored in peatlands, making them one of the planet's major carbon pools. Drainage of these sites dries the earth, leaving them vulnerable to slow-burning fires that release up to 235,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere annually.
In Belarus, the project's cost of between $50 and $100 per hectare represents an economical method of keeping this carbon out of the atmosphere. At Bartenikha, the reversal of the fen mire's degradation began with just four sluices and a number of dams that were constructed with the support of UNDP. These efforts prevented the drying of the soil that had proved so destructive. The ecosystem began to recover and wildlife started to return. Peat fires, which had cost the Government $1.5 million annually, virtually disappeared.
Using hydro-engineering to re-wet degraded peatlands has far-reaching environmental and socio-economic benefits. Rehabilitated land offers favourable conditions for hunting, fishing, picking berries and gathering medicinal herbs for local communities, as well as offering new opportunities for the tourist industry in the regions affected. The project's success at Bartenikha has been repeated in other wetlands in Belarus. In October 2010 it was presented as a uniquely successful model of wildlife protection at the Tenth Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Nagoya, Japan.
For the first time in almost 16 years, Marya Kazlouskaya harvests cranberries from the Bartenikha fen mire in the Minsk region of Belarus. Kazlouskaya and her fellow villagers were surprised and excited to see the return of cranberries, after a decade of intense peat extraction in the 1990s had left the fen mire ecosystem a dull lifeless landscape covered with patches of dry grass.
Now that the Bartenikha fen mire has returned to life — in part with UNDP's support — Kazlouskaya and others in her community are planning to restart the area's once profitable cranberry industry. (Photo: © Andrei Liankevich)
Students at a school in southern Lebanon learn how to construct environmentally-sensitive buildings. Teachers and students at 25 public schools in the region will receive a constant supply of electricity to their offices and classrooms following installation of solar panels that provide an alternative to expensive and polluting diesel generators, thanks in part to UNDP support. Like many public and private buildings across Lebanon, the schools experience daily blackouts that can last six hours or more. Solar-powered systems enable constant use of equipment, such as photo-copying machines, during sunny days, which number more than
300 per year.
In Lebanon, UNDP continued to provide technical support on different types of renewable energy and energy efficiency applications through the implementation of over 50 different pilot projects in 2010. For example, energy efficient lighting was installed in 10 public institutions, 5 small hospitals were fitted with solar water-heater systems and 26 photovoltaic systems were installed in schools. Most importantly, as a direct result of UNDP support to high-level environmental policy reform, the Government of Lebanon declared its commitment to reaching 12 percent renewable energy use by 2020. (Photo: UNDP Lebanon)
Three hundred workers pull boulders from a river in Bhutan. They are part of a Government initiative — supported in part by UNDP — to artificially lower Thorthormi glacial lake, which is threatening to overflow due to the rapid melting of ice and snow.
Bhutan is facing the risks of Glacial Lake Outburst caused by increased amounts of melting snow and ice that overflow glacial lakes, endangering the people who live below. In 2005, the Government started a project to artificially lower Thorthormi glacial lake, in partnership with UNDP, the Least Developed Country Fund, the World Wildlife Fund and the Government of Austria.
The practical approach to artificially lowering Thorthormi is simple and innovative. Since use of heavy machinery at the site would further destabilize the glacial lake's moraine dam, the excavation work is done manually with simple tools to dig ice and remove boulders, creating a drainage channel. More than 350 workers receive income through this labour-intensive project, contributing to the local economy. Additionally, the initiative is installing an automated early warning system throughout the area and training community members about both the dangers of these floods and adaptation alternatives for this new, climate change reality.
(Photo: © Tashi Tshering/WWF Bhutan)
of dangerous chemicals that
UNDP helped 9 countries
dispose of in 2010.
These model farms are used to demonstrate solid soil management practices and environmentally friendly crop management. An additional 294 farms in the watershed area are applying some form of sustainable land management. As a result, the use of chemical herbicides and pesticides decreased, the number of producers with access to irrigation increased, 534 hectares were reforested and a Watershed Council was formed.