Ключевые слова:  Polesie, swamps, land reclamation, drainage, expedition, scientific support, anniversary

// Мелиорация.— 2022. – №4(102) – С 6–11

In 2022 the 150th anniversary of the organization of the Western Expedition to drain the swamps, led by General I. I. Zhilinsky, is celebrated. This grandiose event, even for today, lasted for 30 years (1872‒1902) and affected more than 8 million hectares of the Polesie region. Today's reclamation transformation of Belarus is based on the scientific and practical work of a team of talented and selfless scientists and engineers who laid the foundations for reclamation of swamps in the Belarusian Polesie, as well as in Russia and Ukraine at the turn of the 19th ‒ 20th centuries.