Belarus' Natural Resources: What Does The Country Offer?

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe with a flat, plain relief landscape. The country is rich in natural resources, with over 4,000 mineral deposits found, including peat, forests, oil, natural gas, brown coal, fertile land, limestone, iron, clay, chalk, and sand. Belarus is self-sufficient in potash and table salt, ceramic clay, building sand, building stone, and fresh and mineral water. The country has a well-developed heavy industry sector, producing heavy-duty vehicles, machinery, and precision goods. Belarus also has a diverse agricultural sector, growing crops such as barley, wheat, potatoes, and sugar beets.

Belarus' forests

Belarus is a country in Eastern Europe with a largely flat landscape and expansive areas of marshland. Forests occupy approximately 40% of the land in Belarus, and they are classified as state property.

The Belovezhskaya Forest, also known as the Belavezhskaya Pushcha, is a pristine old-growth forest and a true pride of Belarus. It is one of the largest surviving areas of primeval mixed forest in Europe, covering over 460 square miles (1,200 square kilometres). The forest is located near the headwaters of the Narev and Lesnaya rivers, tributaries of the Bug, and is home to a wide range of flora and fauna. The oldest trees in the Belovezhskaya Forest are 600 to 800 years old, and the forest includes conifers and hardwoods that have attained ages of 350 to 600 or more years. Some of these trees have reached heights of over 150 feet (45 metres) and diameters greater than 6 feet (2 metres). The forest is home to diverse wildlife from both western and eastern Europe, including elk, deer, lynx, and wild boar. The European bison, or wisent, which had been hunted to extinction in the wild after World War I, was reintroduced to the Belovezhskaya Forest with zoo-bred animals. The forest remains the wisent's most notable home, and these animals are now also found in other parts of Europe, including Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine.

The Belovezhskaya Forest is the oldest nature preserve in Europe, and both the Polish and Belarusian portions of the forest have become national parks. The Belarusian portion was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1992.

Forestry is one of the key industries of the Belarusian economy, with over 5,000 enterprises in the sector and more than 146,000 Belarusian nationals working in the industry. The forestry sector in Belarus provides timber for local and international markets, with production steadily rising since 2013 due to high demand from the construction and furniture manufacturing industries.

The Belarusian government recognises the importance of its forests and works to protect and manage them. The country's wetlands, dubbed the "lungs of Europe," also play a crucial role in the global environmental system by helping to clean the air of carbon dioxide and preserving rare plant and animal species.

Oil and gas

Belarus has a diverse industrial profile, but it is poorly endowed with natural resources. The country relies on fossil fuel imports from Russia to meet most of its energy needs. Oil and gas are a key part of this.

Oil deposits in Belarus are found in a single oil and gas basin, Pripyat. There are several active oil fields and 59 more under development, with the largest in the final stages. Belarus has 27 Mt of crude oil reserves and 30 Mt of recoverable resources, according to 2012 estimates. Natural gas reserves are estimated at 3 bcm, with recoverable resources at 10 bcm.

Belarus is a large oil refiner, ranking 36th in the world. However, it is also one of the world's largest importers of natural gas. The country imported 17 Mtoe (20 billion cubic metres) of natural gas in 2018, making it the leading importer among EU4Energy countries.

Shale oil is a significant but undeveloped energy resource in Belarus. Belarus is estimated to have between 5 and 11 billion tons of oil shale reserves throughout the country, with up to 3.6 billion tons of recoverable reserves. The main resource is located in the Pripyat Basin, which covers an area of 10,000-20,000 square kilometres. Within the Pripyat Basin, two potentially exploitable deposits, Lyuban and Turov, have been identified, estimated to contain 0.9 and 2.7 billion tons of oil shale in place, respectively. However, the recoverable reserves of the Turov deposit are lower, at 0.33-0.47 billion tons.

Belarus has a strong interest in exploiting its oil shale deposits due to the depletion of conventional petroleum and natural gas reserves and its high degree of reliance on imported hydrocarbons from Russia. The country has established partnerships with China and Estonia to assist in the extraction of oil shale. However, oil shale in Belarus has a high ash and sulphur content, low heat of combustion, and high extraction and processing costs, making it challenging to develop.

Peat deposits

Belarus is an Eastern European country with a largely flat landscape, expansive areas of marshland, and many lakes and streams. The country has a variety of natural resources, including peat deposits, forests, oil, natural gas, and brown coal.

The process of harvesting and drying peat for fuel has contributed to the degradation of peatlands in Belarus. Between 1960 and 1980, large-scale drainage of peatlands occurred for agriculture, forestry, and peat mining. This disturbance of the natural hydrological regime made the peatlands vulnerable to fires, with major fires breaking out in 1999 and 2002. These fires had drastic consequences for the environment and the economy, leading to initiatives to restore the ecological integrity of the peatlands.

The Belarusian government has recognised the importance of restoring the hydrological regime in degraded peatlands to prevent peat fires effectively. By 2030, the government plans to restore 15% of the area of damaged peatlands, or about 500,000 hectares. International and national projects, such as the UNDP-GEF project "Landscape Approach to Management of Peatlands," have contributed to the restoration of about 50,000 hectares of drained peatlands.

The rehabilitation of degraded peatlands has multiple benefits. It helps to conserve biodiversity, reduce carbon emissions, and provide habitats for rare and endangered wildlife species. Additionally, it improves the potential for ecological tourism, as locals can engage in fishing, berry picking, and hunting in these restored areas.

Lakes and rivers

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe with a flat landscape and expansive areas of marshland. It is known as the "blue-eyed country" due to its abundance of lakes and rivers.

Belarus has a vast network of waterways, including over 20,800 rivers and streams with a total length of 90,600 kilometres, as well as approximately 11,000 lakes. These water bodies play a crucial role in meeting the country's industrial and household needs, serving as a source of drinking water and supporting the fishing industry. The lakes are scattered across the country, with the majority located in the northern region, known as the Belarusian Lake District. The lakes of Belarus were formed during the Ice Age when huge glacier boulders left depressions that filled with water as the glaciers melted.

The country's major rivers include the Neman, the Pripyat, and the Dnieper. The Neman flows westward towards the Baltic Sea, while the Pripyat flows eastward to join the Dnieper, which then flows southward towards the Black Sea. Other notable rivers include the Western Dvina, Nyoman, Berezina, Sojh, and Prypyat. These rivers have served as important transportation routes and connectors between different regions throughout history.

The lakes and rivers of Belarus are also home to diverse wildlife, including various fish species such as pike, perch, carp, and catfish. Additionally, the wetland ecosystems surrounding these water bodies are dubbed the "lungs of Europe" for their role in cleaning the air and preserving rare plant and animal species.

The abundance of lakes and rivers in Belarus not only provides essential resources but also contributes to the country's natural beauty and ecological diversity.

Fertile land

Belarus has plenty of fertile lands, especially close to the river basins. The country has a largely flat terrain with expansive areas of marshland and many streams and lakes. The country's average elevation is 525 feet above sea level.

The fertile land in Belarus is used to grow a variety of crops, including barley, wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, flax, rapeseed, sugar beets, maize, and triticale. In 2018, Belarus was the 11th largest producer of potatoes in the world, and the third-largest producer of triticale, only behind Poland and Germany. Belarus also produced 1.8 million tons of wheat and 944 thousand tons of barley in 2018.

Agriculture in Belarus can be divided into two segments: livestock production and crop production. Crop production slightly outweighs livestock production in the country's product mix, accounting for around 55% of gross agricultural output since 1995. In 2013, agriculture accounted for 7.9% of Belarus's GDP, while the same year, the sector accounted for only 3% of GDP in the EU.

The share of agriculture in Belarus's GDP has been declining, decreasing from 11.6% in 2000 to 7.4% in 2007. This decrease in the importance of agriculture in the Belarusian economy parallels the general urbanization trends, as the share of the rural population in Belarus steadily declines over time.

The fertile land in Belarus supports the country's agricultural sector and provides raw materials for the food industry. Most of the agricultural products produced in Belarus are sold in the local markets, and food processing is a significant sector that provides employment to many Belarusians and contributes to the national income.

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