World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, is an excellent opportunity to draw public attention to the issues of environmental protection activities, ensuring ecological well-being, and preserving a comfortable environment for people's lives.
World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, is an excellent opportunity to draw public attention to the issues of environmental protection activities, ensuring ecological well-being, and preserving a comfortable environment for people's lives. On the eve of the professional holiday, the Chairman of the Regional Committee for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, Viktor Galanov, in an interview with "Vitebskiye Vesti" spoke about the life of specialists in the environmental protection department in the jubilee year for the service, about innovations, successes, and the daily concerns of ecologists.
— In 2020, Belarusian ecologists are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the service's establishment. How do you preserve the memory of those who created it in the Vitebsk region, ensure the continuity of traditions, and how do you manage to maintain the corporate spirit over the years and instill it in new generations of environmental specialists?
— Indeed, this year is a jubilee for our service. It should be noted that continuity and the development of traditions in the field of environmental protection are given great attention at the state level. A legal framework has been created that allows for clear regulation and control of the use of natural resources.
Each generation of ecologists contributes to the formation and development of the environmental protection service, but at all times, the common task remains unchanged: to protect and preserve the environment. After all, our region is a corner of unique nature, an object of close attention for those who wish to see and learn about the distinctive Belarus. Well-preserved forest, lake-river, and wetland complexes, unique natural monuments, rich hunting and fishing grounds – all this attracts numerous tourists to the northern region. A number of protected natural areas in the Vitebsk region have the status of UNESCO monuments. Our land serves as a source of mineral resources significant for the country's economic development.
The committee and inspectorates are staffed by individuals with an active life stance, like-minded people who contribute significantly to fostering a favourable environment. The stability of our team is evidenced by the fact that over 25% of specialists within our structure have been working for at least 10 years. At the inception of the service stood Nikolay Nikolayevich Odintsov, Nikolay Vasilyevich Kalina, Viktor Pavlovich Alifirenko, and Bronislav Viktorovich Plavinsky. These individuals, dedicating their efforts, experience, and knowledge, laid the foundation for the modern environmental protection service and defined the strategic directions for ecologists' activities. We are rightfully proud of our veterans, as well as those who today uphold the committee's authority – Pyotr Vasilyevich Duk, Zhanna Valerianovna Aleynikova, Yury Valeryevich Korolyov, Lidiya Afanasyevna Osipenkova, and Alexander Yevgenyevich Voevodov. They are true successors to their esteemed predecessors.
— What issues first came under the scrutiny of ecologists last year, and which environmental aspects are you focusing on today?
— In 2019, ecologists of the Vitebsk region joined efforts to address the issue of minimising the use of polymer packaging. The Regional Committee for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, in conjunction with relevant departments, prepared an action plan for the phased reduction of polymer packaging use and its replacement with environmentally safe alternatives. The document, designed for the period up to 2025, envisages the implementation of a container-based separate waste collection system for municipal waste in areas of individual housing in Vitebsk, Novopolotsk, and district centres, as well as the organisation of separate waste collection in rural areas and horticultural associations. Among the measures are also the decommissioning of all mini-landfills for municipal solid waste, the construction of facilities for sorting and processing municipal waste, and the development of production and use of environmentally safe packaging.
Furthermore, significant attention is currently paid to the implementation of "green economy" principles, energy-saving technologies for treating atmospheric emissions and wastewater, and the recycling and utilisation of waste, which helps to reduce harmful impacts on the environment.
To preserve biological and landscape diversity, work
In recent years, the area of nature reserves and natural monuments of republican and local significance has increased by 8.4 thousand hectares and amounts to 392.9 thousand hectares (9.8% of the region's area).
Furthermore, activities aimed at improving land management, landscaping, and greening of populated areas remain relevant, with the environmental service acting as the coordinator.
— When is the waste sorting plant in Vitebsk scheduled to open, what aspects does the environmental service focus on when preparing the facility for operation? What other significant projects, in your assessment, are being implemented in the field of waste management?
— The plant is scheduled to be commissioned this summer. It has already been built, and the equipment has been delivered and installed. Commissioning and start-up operations are to be carried out by foreign specialists, whose arrival is currently uncertain due to the epidemiological situation. The plant is designed to receive and sort municipal waste with a volume of 100 thousand tons per year, extracting secondary material resources for subsequent use – PET bottles, plastics, and organic waste.
By 2030, another 5 interregional complexes for solid municipal waste (SMW) management will be built in the Vitebsk region.
Currently, the "Orsha Municipal Solid Waste Landfill" facility is being designed for the Orsha, Dubroven, and Tolochin districts. Its construction is planned to commence in the fourth quarter. Also, this year, the design of the Novopolotsk regional complex for SMW management will begin, which will serve the Polotsk, Ushach, and Rosson districts.
Since 2020, the international technical assistance project "Sustainable Management of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Chemicals in the Republic of Belarus, GEF-6" has been implemented in
— The issue remains relevant, especially with Sosnowsky's hogweed, the area of which in the Vitebsk region accounts for 86% of the total area in the republic. Currently, 4027 locations of its growth have been identified, covering an area of about 4 thousand hectares. The most infested districts of the region are Ushachsky, Vitebsky, Gorodoksky, Braslavsky, Sennensky, Miorsky.
In the Chashniksky district, all locations of Sosnowsky's hogweed growth have been eradicated. 12 sites remain under control.
The work to combat the invasive plant is monitored daily by the committee and inspectorates. In 2020, 551.5 thousand rubles were allocated from local budgets for these purposes. Land users are directing their own funds towards carrying out the work.
The most effective method of combating Sosnowsky's hogweed is chemical, using special chemical substances (herbicides) that cause plant death.
This year, it is planned to treat over 70% (2794 hectares) of the existing areas using this method. To consolidate the obtained result, repeated treatments are necessary for 4-5 consecutive years.
— How is the "Let's Embellish Our Small Motherland" campaign progressing, and what are the most illustrative projects implemented within this initiative?
— The environmental campaign of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection has received support in the Vitebsk region. Its participants have accomplished hundreds of good deeds that have made our region cleaner and more beautiful.
For the second consecutive year, its main activities have been focused on greening.
Nearly 25 thousand trees and 12.5 thousand shrubs have been planted in cities and other settlements, with over 7 thousand more plants planted in roadside strips by road services.
Employees of the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, residents of settlements, representatives of executive committees, work collectives, public associations, and clergy participate in these actions. In April, committee employees planted trees on the boulevard in the Medtsentr microdistrict of Vitebsk, and inspectorate specialists planted trees in the territories of forestry enterprises. Greening activities will continue in the autumn.
Beautification events are also being held. For example, the Lepel Inspectorate and teachers of the local agricultural technical college tidied up the coastal areas of Lake Lepel and the Ulla River. The Dubrovno Inspectorate, together with BRSM activists, cleared the bank of the "Berezki" reservoir in the district center of debris.
A campaign for the improvement of springs has now been announced.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank everyone who contributes to the preservation of nature and the enhancement of its riches! On behalf of the committee, we congratulate all those who are not indifferent to environmental issues on this holiday. Special words of gratitude are addressed to colleagues and veterans of the environmental protection service for our joint work on improving the environmental protection system, with wishes of good health, well-being, and patience in our noble cause!