Decree No. 4 of the Council of Ministers validating the Regulation on Osveysky biosphere reserve.

Osveysky biosphere reserve shall be allotted the area of 27754 hectares and shall have as its purpose the conservation in its natural state the precious landscape with the unique lakes and the population of rare and endangered plants and game recorded in the Red Book of Belarus. The following activities shall be prohibited on the territory of Osveysky biosphere reserve: 1) any activity causing change of the natural landscape and hydrological regime; 2) discharge of sewage and waste disposal in water bodies; 3) clearing of riverside natural growth except for recreational areas and for passage of fishes; 4) setting up tourist camps; 5) damage and annihilation of shrubbery and forest plantations and disturbance of soil; 6) burning out dry plantations; 7) main felling; 8) lowering of the water level in the Osveysky lake set at the level of 130,32 metres (according to the Baltic measurement system) below the long-term low level of 130,16 metres (according to the Baltic measurement system); 9) water abstraction for irrigation; 10) the use of motor boats except for life-saving, nature-conservative inspection and fishing crews; 11) grazing on the coastal areas and on the island of the Osveysky lake; 12) industrial fisheries with the sweep-nets except for the places of traditional fisheries authorize by the fishing inspection; 13) fisheries with the utilization of fixed fishing gear in the nesting places and nearby the natural habitats of marketable fur-bearing aquatic animals. The proclamation of Osveysky biosphere reserve shall not entail the expropriation of land. The regional executive bodies shall be the managing authority of Osveysky biosphere reserve. Land tenants must observe the regime of protected area and use ecofriendly processes. The damages caused to Osveysky biosphere reserve shall be compensated by the legal and natural persons in conformity with the modalities established by law.