Arnolbik: We use all allowed ways to win!
The deputy director general of Białowieża Forest has told ERB that the park is promoting itself in the contest “New 7 Wonders of the World”, that the forest is hardly able to cope with Russian tourists and that its territory will become 15 times bigger.
The national park “Białowieża Forest” is among the candidates for the title of a new wonder of the world. 77 objects from all over the planet have been selected after an Internet voting in the contest “New 7 Wonders of the World”. A group of experts will have to select 28 finalists. Then the Internet voting will be resumed and it will finish by 2011 - then the list of “new wonders of the world” will be made public.
How is the forest promoting itself and how is it going to win? ERB has discussed it with the deputy director general of the park responsible for scientific research Vasil Arnolbik.
ERB: How are you going to advertise Białowieża Forest on its way to the final?
Vasil Arnolbik: We are trying to do it together with Poland in all mass media. It is a single campaign and we send the information to websites, radio and TV – everywhere we can.
Poland has invented a very good method and we make also add it to our arsenal. They have created a kind of a card containing a request to vote and a short comment with explanations why the forest deserves so much attention and why it can make it to the final.
The card is like a cut-away that has three more pages containing a simplified system of voting. We are using all allowed ways to win the prestigious contest.
ERB: What are the chances that Białowieża Forest can become one of the new Seven Wonders of the World?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: The fact that we have reached the stage is already good. About 400 objects from 244 countries participated in the contest at the very beginning. It is good that we have made it so far and have a normal rating.
ERB: What will the victory in the contest mean?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: First of all – the victory will be good for the country’s prestige, it will promote tourism and it will be a victory of the state’s environmental protection programme. Not all states can afford to preserve natural resources, the quality of environment and unique natural territories in such a big area.
ERB: Aren’t the real results evident in the current stage of the contest?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: It is difficult to say. The number of visitors keeps increasing. We had 260 thousand visitors last year (including excursions and school tours, the contingent differed). The number has increased by 10 or 20 percent in comparison with the last year. I think it will be better in the future.
ERB: Do you expect the number of visitors to increase?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: Yes, we do. We would like more people to come here even from the neighbouring countries. It is interesting: there are a lot of visitors coming from Russia now… Besides the contest, our national reserve will celebrate its 600th anniversary in September. We organized a 10-day exposition dated for the 600th anniversary in the UNESCO – it aroused interest.
Russian State Council. The number of Russian visitors has increased greatly – it even excesses our capacity. We organized one more scientific conference before the jubilee and revealed all the historical background and many historical facts about the forest that had not been known before. We have restored the forest’s blazonry: we try to use it wherever possible now – even in advertisements.
There will be the colours of the forest’s director general, a flag, a small and a big emblem. We make souvenirs and badges with the blazonry… We have ordered some of the products in China. Foreign delegations are very interested in it.
A respected Chinese company would like to come here and make a film about the Slavonic culture. They are going to spend five days here. The have already shot a film about the culture of the Mediterranean.
The programmes aroused a lot of interest among Chinese viewers. In fact, we work for many countries.
ERB: Will the Chinese guests arrive soon?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: The preparation of objects is still in process. It will happen in August. We are also cooperativing with Poland in the field of the world heritage. Our territory is five thousand hectares and we are going to increase it to seventy five thousand hectares.
We have such opportunities thanks to the state cooperation. The world heritage means being more solicitous about natural resources – nature should be able to develop in its natural way and we should protect the rights of wildlife. All activities including tourist ones should be moved to other parts of the forest.
ERB: When are you going to increase the territory of Białowieża Forest?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: We are going to do it by September or by the beginning of October. We will send a new nomination dossier to the World Heritage Centre together with Poland. Our projects should be confirmed in 2010 and we may receive a certificate for a bigger territory then.
On the other hand, a bigger territory will result in a decrease of the number of roads and visitors – we are on the wildlife’s side in this issue. It will also be necessary to create a single object not separated by the border for the united trans-border Polish-Belarusian territory – it will be a united management plan or a plan of management on the joint world heritage territory.
However, there are problems about it. We have prepared our administration plan for our part of the forest and Poland is being a bit late because it has to be approved by ministries – and for natural resources (ours and theirs), they should undergo an expertise and so on. The environmental legislation is not identical either; we use 12 or 15 laws only on the territory of the forest while Poles have other laws. A united plan of management will be created and realized when both plans are approved.
Photo by: bp21.org.by
The national park “Białowieża Forest” is among the candidates for the title of a new wonder of the world. 77 objects from all over the planet have been selected after an Internet voting in the contest “New 7 Wonders of the World”. A group of experts will have to select 28 finalists. Then the Internet voting will be resumed and it will finish by 2011 - then the list of “new wonders of the world” will be made public.
How is the forest promoting itself and how is it going to win? ERB has discussed it with the deputy director general of the park responsible for scientific research Vasil Arnolbik.
ERB: How are you going to advertise Białowieża Forest on its way to the final?
Vasil Arnolbik: We are trying to do it together with Poland in all mass media. It is a single campaign and we send the information to websites, radio and TV – everywhere we can.
Poland has invented a very good method and we make also add it to our arsenal. They have created a kind of a card containing a request to vote and a short comment with explanations why the forest deserves so much attention and why it can make it to the final.
The card is like a cut-away that has three more pages containing a simplified system of voting. We are using all allowed ways to win the prestigious contest.
ERB: What are the chances that Białowieża Forest can become one of the new Seven Wonders of the World?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: The fact that we have reached the stage is already good. About 400 objects from 244 countries participated in the contest at the very beginning. It is good that we have made it so far and have a normal rating.
ERB: What will the victory in the contest mean?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: First of all – the victory will be good for the country’s prestige, it will promote tourism and it will be a victory of the state’s environmental protection programme. Not all states can afford to preserve natural resources, the quality of environment and unique natural territories in such a big area.
ERB: Aren’t the real results evident in the current stage of the contest?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: It is difficult to say. The number of visitors keeps increasing. We had 260 thousand visitors last year (including excursions and school tours, the contingent differed). The number has increased by 10 or 20 percent in comparison with the last year. I think it will be better in the future.
ERB: Do you expect the number of visitors to increase?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: Yes, we do. We would like more people to come here even from the neighbouring countries. It is interesting: there are a lot of visitors coming from Russia now… Besides the contest, our national reserve will celebrate its 600th anniversary in September. We organized a 10-day exposition dated for the 600th anniversary in the UNESCO – it aroused interest.
Russian State Council. The number of Russian visitors has increased greatly – it even excesses our capacity. We organized one more scientific conference before the jubilee and revealed all the historical background and many historical facts about the forest that had not been known before. We have restored the forest’s blazonry: we try to use it wherever possible now – even in advertisements.
There will be the colours of the forest’s director general, a flag, a small and a big emblem. We make souvenirs and badges with the blazonry… We have ordered some of the products in China. Foreign delegations are very interested in it.
A respected Chinese company would like to come here and make a film about the Slavonic culture. They are going to spend five days here. The have already shot a film about the culture of the Mediterranean.
The programmes aroused a lot of interest among Chinese viewers. In fact, we work for many countries.
ERB: Will the Chinese guests arrive soon?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: The preparation of objects is still in process. It will happen in August. We are also cooperativing with Poland in the field of the world heritage. Our territory is five thousand hectares and we are going to increase it to seventy five thousand hectares.
We have such opportunities thanks to the state cooperation. The world heritage means being more solicitous about natural resources – nature should be able to develop in its natural way and we should protect the rights of wildlife. All activities including tourist ones should be moved to other parts of the forest.
ERB: When are you going to increase the territory of Białowieża Forest?
Vasіl Arnolbіk: We are going to do it by September or by the beginning of October. We will send a new nomination dossier to the World Heritage Centre together with Poland. Our projects should be confirmed in 2010 and we may receive a certificate for a bigger territory then.
On the other hand, a bigger territory will result in a decrease of the number of roads and visitors – we are on the wildlife’s side in this issue. It will also be necessary to create a single object not separated by the border for the united trans-border Polish-Belarusian territory – it will be a united management plan or a plan of management on the joint world heritage territory.
However, there are problems about it. We have prepared our administration plan for our part of the forest and Poland is being a bit late because it has to be approved by ministries – and for natural resources (ours and theirs), they should undergo an expertise and so on. The environmental legislation is not identical either; we use 12 or 15 laws only on the territory of the forest while Poles have other laws. A united plan of management will be created and realized when both plans are approved.
Photo by: bp21.org.by
