The situation of biodiversity in Moldova has improved, Minister of Ecology Violeta Ivanov said Friday at a news conference held to mark the World Biodiversity Day. In 1998, the state protected 1.95% of the country’s natural areas. Now, this figure stands at 4.67%, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The conservation of biodiversity at the level of ecosystems, species and populations becomes a more serious problem owing to the greater human impact on the biosphere,” Ivanov said. There is a lot of work to do to combat poaching, illegal cutting of trees and unauthorized exports of plans and animals, the official said. “The authorization to export plants and animas is issued only after the applicants prove scientifically that the environment will not be affected,” the minister said. According to Violeta Ivanov, about 30 million lei was earmarked in the National Ecological Fund for 2009 for financing projects in the area of biodiversity. The Fund totals about 150 million lei that will be used to implement environment-related projects. The World Biodiversity Day is marked yearly on May 22 in accordance with the decision of the UN General Assembly.