Within the scope of the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention, the Republic of Belarus being a Party to this Convention took an active part in commemorating this global event organizing an international conference in Minsk in October 2011.

Being aware of the significance of wetlands conservation as well as the importance of transboundary cooperation in this area, the Republic of Belarus held an International Conference on the Sustainable Management of Wetlands within the Transboundary Context on 11-13 October 2011 in Minsk which was organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus in cooperation with UNDP/GEF Project.

The Republic of Belarus possesses a fair quantity of wetland resources, preserved in natural state, most of which are of international significance.

The aim of this high-level conference is to share the experience on sustainable management and conservation of wetlands including transboundary context.

By sharing knowledge and the outcomes, the Government of Belarus and the international organizations hope to encourage the European Governments and other stakeholders to promote new mechanisms to secure the long-term management of wetlands in Belarus and across Europe, to benefit biodiversity conservation, regional development and climate change mitigation.

OMPO, who was represented by its Director A. Czajkowski, its Chief Scientific Officer J. Trouvilliez and S. Svazas, Director of the Regional Unit of-OMPO Vilnius (Lithuania). in plenary sessions and side events of the conference, OMPO was invited to give several talks on its programme on transboundary wetlands started a decade ago (*).

(*) Important transboundary Belarusian-Lithuanian and Lithuanian-Russian wetlands, S. Švažas et al., Institute Ecology of Vilnius University & "OMPO Vilnius" Publishers, Vilnius 2003.