Byle Lake and Koza Berezyna Mire

Located between the Stokhid, Prypiat and Styr rivers, this Site includes an extensive eutrophic and mesotrophic bog area, a deep oligotrophic karst lake, swamp forests, pine woods and a small channelled river flowing across the bog. Byle Lake is one of the biggest karst lakes of the Polesia Region. Koza Berezyna Mire was formed in a glacial valley and is an important habitat for glacial relict plant species such as Salix lapponum and Vaccinium macrocarpum. The Site is very important for the conservation of the rare flora and fauna of the region: over 900 native plant species and nearly 500 animal species have been recorded there, a number of them nationally red-listed. The Site is an important breeding habitat for wetland-dependent birds including the nationally endangered western capercaillie Tetrao urogallus as well as the common crane Grus grus, black stork Ciconia nigra and common goldeneye Bucephala clangula. The wetland complex plays an important role in the maintenance of hydrological regimes of the central part of Western Polesia, in addition to carbon storage and climate regulation. Its ecological character depends on the cooperation of local communities, who collect berries and mushrooms on the Site for selling. Traditional recreational activities are concentrated around Byle Lake. The main threats affecting the ecological character of the Site relate to droughts. Since 2006, the Rivnensky Nature Reserve, of which the Ramsar Site is part, has an ecological and education centre and organizes annual events focused on the importance of environmental conservation and the value of wetlands and the Site.

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