People say that our planet is in danger. Do you share this opinion?

I think that today our planet is in serious danger. Acid rains, global warming, air and water pollution and overpopulation are the problems that threaten human lives on the Earth. Factories emit tons of harmful chemicals. These emissions have disastrous consequences for our planet. They are the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains. Our forests are disappearing because they are cut down or burnt. The seas are in danger. They are filled with poison: industrial and nuclear wastes, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Every ten minutes one kind of animals, plant or insect dies out forever.

What do you think people should do to protect the environment?

If we want our children to live in the same world we live in, or in a better and healthier world, we must learn to protect the water, the air and the land from pollution.

Every man must stop littering in the streets, every man can plant flowers and trees making our planet green. We can sort out the wastes we produce. For example cans and bottles can go separately from wood wastes. And of course we must recycle our wastes. We must modify purifying systems for cleaning and trapping harmful substances. It’s necessary to broaden ecological education.

Environmental protection is a universal concern.

What questions will you ask a zoologist who works in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha?

1. What kind of animals live in Belovezhskaya Pushcha?

2. How do you take care of animals?

3. Do many people visit Pushcha every year?

There are different national parks and reserves in our republic to protect rare animals and plants. Which of them would you advise your British friend to visit?

I’d advise to visit Belovezhskaya Pushcha. It’s the largest forest and a wildlife park. Many different animals and birds live in it. People look after them, give them food and protect them. The most famous animals of the Pushcha are bisons. The animals there walk free. People can’t kill animals in the Pushcha. Scientists work in the Pushcha all the time. They study the life of the wild animals, birds and plants. They even give animals medicine. The Pushcha is a kind of a museum of natural history and a zoo. Many people visit the Pushcha and look at the animals. They walk and rest in this beautiful forest.

What can you tell about the environmental situation in our republic?

The environmental situation in Belarus is aggravated by the result of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station. Some places are badly contaminated. The worse situation is in big cities and towns. Millions cars and factories pollute the air we breathe. Industry throws it’s waste in the water. Deforestation also aggravates the ecological situation in the country. Fortunately I live in a small town where there aren’t a lot of cars and factories. There are some forests around my place. The air is quite clean and fresh here.

The Chernobyl disaster affected almost all parts of our country. About 18 per cent of the soil in the country is unfit for farming, and many districts are dangerous to live in. it happened more than 25 years ago, but new spots of radioactive contamination are being still discovered. A great damage has been done not only the republic’s agriculture and forests but also to people’s health. Today we have a great increase in children cancer and leukemia.