The Head of the State Environmental Protection Inspectorate of Lithuania’s Ministry for the Environment, Raimondas Sakalauskas, has led a delegation to Minsk. On meeting Belarusian colleagues, he noted that collaboration between our two states’ nature protection agencies has been taking place unofficially for several years already. It’s now time to formalise our relations, since Belarus and Lithuania share many common concerns.
For the past five years, Lithuania has been realising a programme to restore its population of valuable salmon. The fish move upstream, including along the River Vilia, entering Belarusian territory; here, poachers could have spoiled all attempts to revive the fish population.
“We note with satisfaction that there are no discrepancies in our nature protection legislation,” smiled Mr. Sakalauskas, adding, “Minor nuances could be synchronised, such as the level of punishment for misdemeanours. We are much impressed by the severity of such punishments in Belarus; Lithuania has been discussing stricter penalties, so we can learn from one another.”
