Keywords:  Polesie, swamps, reclamation, drainage, sewerage, expedition, scientific support

// Мелиорация.– 2021. – №4(98) – P 52–57

In the 500-year history of land reclamation in Belarus, a special place is occupied by the Western Expedition to drain bogs (1872–1902), that was headed by General I. I. Zhilinsky. In terms of duration, it has no analogues. During its activity, 3.25 million hectares were canalized, including 410 thousand hectares of swamps turned into meadows, 120 thousand hectares of arable land, 615 thousand hectares of mature forests using canals for timber rafting close to rivers. During the entire period of the Western Expedition's work, The project of draining the Polesie bogs in 1878. At the World Exhibition in Paris, he was awarded an Honorary Diploma, and the head of the Western Expedition was awarded a Gold Medal. It was attended by leading scientists from various scientific fields, that created the theoretical basis for the reclamation of bogs in the Belarusian Polesie, as well as in Russia and Ukraine. Looking into the future, I. I. Zhilinsky wrote, that work in Polesie is sufficient under the economic conditions typical of the late XIXth century «as the population increases and the culture of the country rises, there will be an inevitable need to gradually expand and supplement the existing network of channels».