Commemorative coins "Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Zubr"
Put into circulation on: gold, 50 rubles - 18 July 2006 ; silver, 20 rubles - 30 October 2001 ; copper–nickel, 1 ruble - 30 October 2001
Design: S.Zaskevitch (Belarus)Minted by: The Mint of Poland PLC., Warsaw, Poland
The coins are round. The rim is raised on both sides of the coin. The edge of the coin is corrugated.
Obverse
within the circular geometric ornament – the relief of the State Coat of Arms of the Republic of Belarus; beneath – year of issue, gold and silver coin – alloy standard; inscriptions along the rim – at the top: "РЭСПУБЛIКА БЕЛАРУСЬ" (REPUBLIC OF BELARUS), at the bottom: "ПЯЦЬДЗЕСЯТ РУБЛЁЎ" (FIFTY ROUBLES) on the gold coin, "ДВАЦЦАЦЬ РУБЛЁЎ" (TWENTY ROUBLES) on the silver coin and "АД3IН РУБЕЛЬ" (ONE ROUBLE) on the copper–nickel coin.
Reverse
in the centre – the relief effigy of zubr's head against a background of the stylised forest; inscriptions along the rim: in the left–hand part at the top – "БЕЛАВЕЖСКАЯ ПУШЧА" (BELOVEZHSKAYA PUSHCHA. ZUBR), at the bottom – "ЗУБР" (ZUBR).
The Belovezhsky forest has preserved its primeval, primordial appearance. It is populated with relic communities of plants and animals, many of which have become extinct elsewhere together with cut forests. In "Belovezhskaya Pushcha", the population of zubrs – surviving mammoths' contemporaries – has been revived.
Zubr is the largest animal in Europe.
There are now as many as 472 specimens within Belarus. The National Academy of Sciences, in concert with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Protection, has devised the "Zubr" program which is current being implemented. The program is aiming at the dispersal of zubrs throughout the large forest ranges in Belarus that gives hope that zubr will become as ordinary forester for the generations to come.