Collecting birch sap

01 April 2010 г.

In Belarus birch sap collecting is regulated by the Rules for secondary forest resources collecting and secondary forest exploitation approved by the Decision No. 4 of the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Belarus dated 20.03.2001.

The citizens have a right to collect birch sap for their own use in the places, allocated for this purposes by the legal entities conducting forestry. It’s necessary to apply to the forestry organisation at the place of domicile.
Many forestry organisations offer birch sap for purchase during a collection season.

Birch sap collecting in the places that are not classified as forestry funds is regulated by the Rules for timber saps collection and collection, procurement and purchase of wild plants and (or) their parts, approved by the Decision No. 37/36 of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental protection of the Republic of Belarus and by the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Belarus dated 31.08.2005.

This normative act allows citizens to collect birch sap in places containing trees and bushes, that are not classified as forestry fund, excluding riversides, lakesides, shores of water storage basins and other water basins, railway and road right-of-ways, right-of-ways of other transportation and communication lines, places containing wild plants and animals, included in the Red List of the Republic of Belarus, territories of health resorts, holiday hotels and other healthcare institutions, in public recreational areas.

Birch sap may be collected in specially protected areas provided it’s allowed by the protection and use mode for these territories.

Timber saps collection shall be carried out in a way which preserves technical qualities of wood and is specified in the Rules for secondary forest resources collecting and secondary forest exploitation.