Current view: Text account
Site description (2002 baseline):
Site location and context
The site is a complex mix of bogs, forests, floodplain meadows, lakes and agricultural land. The site is characterized by high diversity and contrasting ecological conditions, as well as the presence of unique nature complexes: large tracts of bogs and transition mires, open fens, lakes, sandy dunes, almost natural forests and fragmentary oak stands.
A total of 175 breeding species of birds have been recorded. The site hosts 44 bird species listed in the National Red Data Book.
Non-bird biodiversity: The category of rare and disappearing plants listed in the National Red Data Book comprises 21 species. Many rare moss species can also be found. The fauna diversity is defined by the variety of habitats. The following Red Data Book mammal species have stable populations: Badger Meles meles (10 settlements), Lynx Felis linx (5-8) and Brown Bear Ursus arctos (3-5).
Transition sedge-
Sphagnum mires occupy most of the area. There are also numerous lakes and rivers. Almost all the lakes are dystrophic and shallow, with low waterlogged shores overgrown by vegetation. Agricultural land occupies 3% of the site's area. These are arable fields, hay-making tracts and pastures. Forestry is limited because much of the site is difficult to access due to waterlogging. Local people have traditionally used the site to collect berries and mushrooms.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Drainage of adjacent areas and canalization of smaller rivers - about 60% of the site's small river channels have been canalized - have disturbed the site's hydrological regime. Local peat extraction for agriculture in the southern part of the Obol-2 peat extraction ground.
Burning of vegetation damages vegetation and animals, especially in dry springs. Felling of radical forests, spruce and alder stands, leads to drastic declines in the biodiversity.Commercial fishing, carried out by the Vitebsk Fishfarm at one of the most beautiful Belarusian lakes, Lake Moshno, may reduce fish resources. Vegetation succession. Open mires tend to get overgrown with shrubs, which in most cases is attributed to the cessation of hay-cutting.
National Conservation Status: A national landscape zakaznik was established in 1999 on the basis of the former national biological zakaznik. International Conservation Status: An IBA was established in 1998. In 2001 its borders were modified to account for the changes in the borders of the zakaznik (code BY003, criteria A1, B2, B3).The site is included in the list of potential Ramsar sites (Criterion 1, 2, 3).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kaz'jany (Belarus). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kazjany-iba-belarus on 23/12/2024.
