Andrei KUZMICH

Andrei Kuzmich graduated in geoecology from the Belarusian State University and post graduated in international relations from the Academy of Public Administration. Since 2003, he has worked in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus, successively at the local, regional and national levels. He has over 18 years of experience in public administration, development of legislation and international cooperation in the field of environmental protection with specialization in land, peatlands, protected areas, and the plant world. The most important normative legal acts to which Andrei Kuzmich contributed are the National Strategy of UNCCD Implementation, the National Action Plans for the Prevention of Land Degradation, the National Strategy for Conservation and Wise (Sustainable) Use of Peatlands, which are adopted by the Government Resolutions, as well as the laws of the Republic of Belarus “On the Protection and Use of Peatlands”, “On Specially Protected Natural Areas”, “On the Plant World”. In 2019 he was awarded with Certificate of Honor of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus. Andrei Kuzmich is the National Focal Point for the UNCCD since 2015 and for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands since 2017. For 2 cycles in a row (2017 – 2022), Andrei Kuzmich served as a member of the UNCCD COP 13 and COP 14 Bureaus and as the Chair of the CEE Regional Committee. Also, he served as a member of the Intergovernmental Working Group that prepared the UNCCD 2018–2030 Strategic Framework adopted at COP 13.