June 10, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Over 500 hectares of Sosnowsky's hogweed have been destroyed in May in the Vitebsk region, the Vitebsk Regional Committee for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection informed a BELTA correspondent.
As of June 1, a total of 857 locations of Sosnowsky's hogweed growth have been identified in the Vitebsk region. The largest number of these have been found in the Ushachy district, accounting for 34% of the total area of plant growth in the region. Other districts where the hazardous plant grows extensively include Vitebsk (21% respectively), Gorodok (13%), Braslav (12%), and Tolochin (7%) districts.
In total, measures to control the spread and population of Sosnowsky's hogweed cover 21 administrative districts and Vitebsk. The region as a whole plans to destroy the plant over an area of 1.6 thousand hectares this year. "While in May this work was carried out solely by mechanical methods, since June chemical treatment of the affected areas has also commenced and will continue until the beginning of autumn," the committee noted.
Serious attention is paid to monitoring the implementation of these measures. Thus, as of June 1, the regional department and its structural divisions have issued 415 orders to land users for failing to take timely measures to control the spread and population of Sosnowsky's hogweed, drawn up 16 protocols, and imposed fines totaling Br4 million, specialists added.-0-