A ban on visiting forests has been introduced in the Orsha and Dubrovno districts of the Vitebsk region

May 11, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. A ban on visiting forests is being introduced in districts of the Vitebsk region, Vasily Kirpichenok, head of the department for forest protection, conservation, hunting and hunting tourism of the Vitebsk State Production Forestry Association, told a BELTA correspondent. Currently, Orsha and Dubrovno districts have already closed their forests to the public, and Polotsk is on the verge of a ban. In addition, a decision on a ban on visiting forests at the regional level is being prepared. As Vasily Kirpichenok noted, the need for this measure is due to the high fire hazard situation in the region. Thus, since the beginning of the fire hazard period, forestry workers and other interested services of the region have extinguished 160 fire outbreaks. To date, 124 hectares of forest land have been damaged by fire, including 39 hectares in the Orsha district and 20 hectares in the Polotsk district. Moreover, more than 80% of the fires are related to the burning of dry grass. In order to prevent fires, PLKHO employees are implementing a whole set of preventive measures. In particular, regular patrols by transport in the most dangerous areas have been established, and constant duty on watchtowers has been organized. Every day, two aircraft perform aerial surveillance of forests in the Polotsk and Vitebsk zones. Conversations with the public are being held, Vasily Kirpichenok said. -0-