Vitebsk region adopted a program to combat hogweed
A regional program for regulating the spread of Sosnowsky's hogweed in the Vitebsk region for 2019 was adopted at the tenth session of the regional Council of Deputies.
According to Pyotr Duk, Deputy Chairman of the regional Committee for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, despite the measures taken, the expansion of Sosnowsky's hogweed in the Vitebsk region continues to show a negative trend. If a few years ago 960 growth sites with an area of 1.3 thousand hectares were registered, then by the end of 2018, this area increased to 2.9 thousand hectares.
"The most infested areas are Braslavsky, Vitebsky, Gorodoksky, and Ushachsky districts. They account for 80% of the total infested area in the region. In addition, the program includes Orshansky district and Vitebsk as moderately infested, as well as Sharkovshchinsky district as slightly infested, in order to develop methods for combating hogweed and disseminate experience to districts comparable in territory," Pyotr Duk noted.
Vladimir Terentyev, Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies, emphasized that, based on last year's experience, it is more effective to focus on the most infested areas and work on them. "I hope we will get involved in the work on time this year," he said. It is expected that the implementation of the program will allow for the clearing of more than 1.1 thousand hectares of land. The financing of the necessary work will be carried out at the expense of local budgets allocated for combating the plant, as well as from the funds of land users.