Once again about the felling of Christmas trees

The Rossonsky District Inspectorate of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection reminds that in accordance with Article 77 of the Forest Code of the Republic of Belarus, legal entities (including legal entities engaged in forestry) and individual entrepreneurs may harvest coniferous New Year trees only on the basis of a forest ticket within the allocated forest fund plots.

It should be noted that in accordance with Article 80 of the Forest Code of the Republic of Belarus, coniferous trees, including New Year trees, are harvested from specially created forest plantations for growing coniferous New Year trees, as well as during all types of logging from trees that are not subject to preservation after logging in accordance with permits and the Rules for logging in the Republic of Belarus.

Also, according to Part 6 of Article 45 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On the Plant World", the harvesting of wild-growing plants and their parts, including New Year's fir trees, pines, and their branches, is prohibited on the territory of settlements.

Citizens can purchase a forest beauty at a Christmas tree market or at the nearest forestry.

It should be remembered that in accordance with the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus, for illegal logging, or damage to woody and shrubby vegetation to the point of cessation of growth or destruction in environmental protection, recreational and health-improving, and protective forests, citizens may be fined from 5 to 30 basic units, individual entrepreneurs – from 20 to 200, and legal entities – from 50 to 300. In operational forests of the forest fund, for similar offenses, fines are provided up to 20 basic units for citizens, for individual entrepreneurs from 10 to 150, legal entities – from 20 to 200, and for illegal removal, extraction of woody and shrubby vegetation growing outside settlements, not part of the forest fund, citizens may be fined up to 20 basic units, individual entrepreneurs from 5 to 50, and legal entities – up to 100. For illegal removal of woody and shrubby vegetation in settlements, or damage to such vegetation or its destruction, administrative responsibility in the form of a fine is provided for citizens in the amount of up to thirty basic units.

Additionally, for each felled New Year tree with a stump diameter of up to 12 cm, the perpetrators will be obliged to compensate for the environmental damage caused, in the amount of 0.2 base units, depending on the location of the violation, as well as the cost of the tree itself if it cannot be recovered – 1 base unit. A person who illegally removes a plant species within a populated area will have to compensate for the environmental damage caused in the amount of 2 base units or more for each coniferous sapling (depending on the trunk diameter of the felled sapling).

During the pre-New Year period, territorial bodies of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, forestry workers, in conjunction with law enforcement officers, will organize monitoring activities to inspect forest fund areas and coniferous plantations in order to prevent and suppress possible cases of illegal logging.