The Miory District Inspectorate of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection reminds about the prohibition of agricultural fires and burning of dry vegetation in the district!
In accordance with Article 16.40 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses:
for illegal burning of dry vegetation, standing grass, as well as stubble and post-harvest residues in fields, or failure to take measures to extinguish fires, responsible persons shall be brought to administrative responsibility in the form of a fine ranging from ten to thirty basic units;
for setting fires in prohibited areas, except for violations of fire safety requirements for which liability is provided for by other articles of the Special Part of the said Code, shall entail the imposition of a fine of up to twelve basic units.
In addition, illegal burning of dry vegetation, standing grass (except for lawns, flower beds, forest litter, living ground cover), as well as stubble and post-harvest residues in accordance with the Regulation on the Procedure for Calculating the Amount of Damage Caused to the Environment and Drawing up an Act on Establishing the Fact of Damage Caused to the Environment, approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of April 11, 2022 No. 219 "On Tariffs for Determining the Amount of Damage Caused to the Environment and the Procedure for its Calculation", is a fact of causing damage to the environment and entails civil liability.
The amount of damage caused to the environment shall be determined according to the tariffs approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of April 11, 2022 No. 219.
Statistics show that the absolute majority of fires due to dry grass burning are caused by people, and only 5-10% of ecosystem fires arise due to meteorological conditions.
Since a significant part of spring dry grass fires are set with good intentions, it makes sense to mention the apparent benefits of such fires and compare them with the damage caused by grass fires.
The main argument of supporters of burning last year's grass is that it enriches it with ash, as a result of which grass appears faster and grows better in burnt areas.
Specialists assure that the ash remaining after burning grass does not affect the improvement of soil quality in any way, as nitrogen compounds are lost (the main part of the nitrogen bound in vegetation is released into the atmosphere, becoming inaccessible to the vast majority of plants).
The mineral elements contained in the ash pass into a soluble form and easily wash away with surface and groundwater. Only a small part of them is absorbed by plants.
After a grass fire, only grasses that reproduce by rhizomes, such as couch grass, sprout again. Honey-bearing flowers, cultivated grasses suitable for feeding livestock, including hay harvesting, reproduce by seeds, and seeds burn during grass burning.
The combustion process is accompanied by the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and oxygen is burned. Fertilizer and pesticide residues burn in the fire, forming volatile toxic organic and inorganic compounds. When burning grass along roads, air pollution with heavy metals occurs.
As a result of burning dry grass, the species composition of meadow vegetation and wildlife is depleted. Wherever fires have passed, there will no longer be the former variety of grasses, and weeds will "capture" the freed territory.
Invertebrates, insects, frogs, lizards, and other animals die in the fires. Burning dry vegetation causes the death of clutches and nesting sites of birds such as the mallard, lapwing, reed and common bunting, field, wood and crested lark, meadow pipit. The nesting period of these birds begins precisely at the beginning of April.
The Miory District Inspectorate of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection appeals to the citizens of the district to treat this problem with understanding and a sense of civic duty, to prevent agricultural fires and the burning of dry vegetation!
Miory District Inspectorate
of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection