21 August, Minsk /BELTA/. A proposal to increase the penalties for illegal hunting of wild animals has been included in the draft of new rules for hunting management and hunting. This was announced today to journalists by Alexander Dunkovich, Deputy Head of the State Inspectorate for the Protection of Fauna and Flora under the President of the Republic of Belarus, as reported by BELTA.

According to Alexander Dunkovich, under the current regulations, the amount of damage caused to nature for illegal hunting of a moose is Br9.5 million. "This is not a deterrent for offenders. Buying the same amount of meat in a store would cost a poacher an order of magnitude more than paying the penalty," the Deputy Head added. "It turns out that poaching is currently profitable."

For example, in Lithuania, an offender is required to pay 10,000 euros for illegally hunting a moose, noted Alexander Dunkovich. "We proposed to increase the penalties so much that poachers would lose the desire to shoot," he said, adding that the amount for damage caused to nature is planned to be increased by approximately 3 times.

The draft of new rules for hunting management and hunting was developed in 2012 by an interdepartmental coordination council. Its goal is to strengthen control and improve the efficiency of hunting grounds. The document will supplement Decrees No. 580 of December 8, 2005, and No. 200 of April 26, 2010.

During a meeting on improving the rules on July 30, the President of Belarus demanded that all possibilities for violating the norms in the field of hunting management be excluded from the draft and sent the document for revision.

Currently, specialized agencies and interested parties are working on the draft – representatives of the Ministry of Forestry and its hunting grounds, the Ministries of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, Agriculture and Food, the State Inspectorate for the Protection of Fauna and Flora under the President of Belarus, the Office of the President, the Republican State Public Association "Belorussian Society of Hunters and Fishermen" (BelOOiR), the State Enterprise "Voenokhot", and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

After revision, the document will be submitted to the Presidential Administration again.-0-

News of Belarus (BELTA)