The State Inspectorate: protecting natural resources for 7 years

02 February 2010 г.

The State Inspectorate on Wildlife Protection under the President of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter referred to as The State Inspectorate) was established by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated January 27, 2003.

It was necessary to establish this authorized body due to several reasons. The major one is poaching and irresponsible management of natural resources, which harmed in the first place the fishing industry in our country, depleted the fish resources and decreased water basins efficiency.

The State Inspectorate has been supposed to implement the state control over protection and use of wild hunting animals and fish, trees, bushes and other wild plants used for procurement, since the first days of its existence. Since the middle of 2006 it has controlled, whether the fishery organisations accepted the necessary measures to preserve fish in water basins. The State Inspectorate also coordinates the activities of state bodies and other organisations to implement state environmental control measures.

According to Mikhail Areschko, the Head of the State Inspectorate, the majority of the environmental law violations are detected in fishing. These were mass violations seven years ago. But their quantity has been decreasing every year due to the measures implemented, first of all, due to the professional competence of the officers and preventive measures undertaken.

Over the last years, the close cooperation has been maintained between state, environmental and law enforcement authorities, additional forces have been attracted to protect natural resources. Environment is being actively protected with the help of local community as well: every tenth violation was detected with the citizens’ involvement. The Decree of the President No. 124 “On some activities of The State Inspectorate on Wildlife Protection under the President of the Republic of Belarus” dated 9.03.2009 conferred the authority to organize and coordinate the activities of the public wildlife protection inspectors upon the State Inspectorate. The best number of the community officers has already been established and the candidates for the post are being considered on the bases of their working and moral qualities.

Poaching is not countrywide and mass any more, underlined Mikhail Areschko. The boom of violations, which occurred in 1990s in our country as well as in the other post-soviet countries, was suppressed. This can be proved by the sayings of our citizens and with the statistical data. For example, the number of detected violations has decreased by half as compared with 2004 level. The number of hunting animals (elk, deer, roe, wild boar, beaver) has been increasing as compared with 2004 level, although the volume of hunting increases as well. Industrial fish catch has also been increasing since 2004.

But it’s too early to lie on one's oars, because poachers have became more hidden, clandestine and mobile. There exist cases when they form organised groups with the internal allocation of duties; some people use their rank to their own benefit. The state inspectors disclosed dozens of such criminal conducts. Lately the inspectors have had to take poachers-divers at depth of water basins with illicitly catch fish. Such barbarian methods of fishing as spearing and use of hooks without bait are suppressed oftener. Often the devices, which destroy not only fish and animals, but also other technical equipment, are seized. It proves that at the age of technical advances light-fingered persons also furnish one selves with new technologies for their own venal purposes. It seems that the times when poachers’ possessions consisted of just nets and traps vanished.

According to the leaders of the State Inspectorate in this situation the pivotal role belongs to technical means and professional competence of the officers. The officers have gained experience and the technical equipment has improved over 7 years of the existence of the special authorized body. The officers are furnished with cars, motorboats with high-capacity engines, quad bikes, devices for filming and surveillance. Sometimes air transport may be used. That is helicopters of border forces.

It is also important that the state inspectors are under the state protection and has vast authority.

They have a right to carry and use weapons and special means, check documents, authorising the use of wildlife resources, stop transport and water vehicles, to carry out inspection of goods, vehicles, vessels, fishing and hunting equipment, to carry our personal inspection of physical persons, who committed violations.

Today the State Inspectorate has at its disposal surveillance equipment with advanced distance and signal quality parameters, generation 2(+) and 3. New navigational equipment is being purchased. All this contributes to providing irrefutable evidence to courts and makes it impossible for violator to escape responsibility.

Summarizing the 7-year-work of the State Inspectorate, Mikhail Areschko, the Chief State Inspector, claimed that the State Inspectorate accomplishes the task, it’s entrusted with. 88.4 thousand of violations of Fishing Rules have been detected over 7 year. About a hundred of tonnes of illicit fish have been seized from poachers. Moreover 129 thousand illicit nets with total length of 6.3 thousand kilometres, more than 2 hundred electrical fishing equipment and 31.4 thousand other fishing devices have been detected and seized. As a result tonnes of fish and other living creatures were protected from further offences.

In hunting 10.5 thousand violations have been detected, 3.7 thousand of guns and 42 tonnes of poultry and meat products have been seized over the period.

Today the State Inspectorate can be justly considered the central part of the wildlife control system.