About 340 public nature conservation inspectors work in the Vitebsk region

September 20, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. About 340 public environmental inspectors are assisting the full-time staff of the environmental protection department in the Vitebsk region, and their number is constantly growing, Tatiana Yasiulina, chief specialist of the Vitebsk Regional Committee for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, told a BELTA correspondent. If in 2005 there were 189 public nature inspectors in the region, by 2009 their number had increased to 269, and by mid-2010 it reached 341 people. On a voluntary basis, these people promote environmental knowledge, participate in raids by district and city inspectorates, and promptly report violations of environmental legislation. For example, the Verkhnedvinsk district inspectorate alone, based on information provided by a local public inspector, issued 128 orders, drew up 15 protocols, and with his participation, identified 48 violations related to the protection of fauna and flora. In the Miory district, this year, a public inspector organized and conducted four clean-up events to remove garbage from public places, carried out composting of household waste at mini-landfills, and drew up and approved a schedule for the removal of solid waste. In the Sharkovshchina district, a public inspector, together with the district inspectorate, created over 30 video films on improving the land. These video materials are widely used by the district executive committee in its work, and measures are taken to promptly eliminate the shortcomings identified by the inspector. As Tatiana Yasiulina noted, among the public inspectors are people of various professions and social statuses: from enterprise managers to pensioners. According to the interlocutor, the practice of internships for 2nd-year ecology students of Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov as public inspectors has proven effective. After graduating from the university, many of them become public environmental inspectors. -0-