The State Forests pay PLN 20 million a year to clean up waste illegally disposed in forest areas. The Minister of Environment Michał Woś announced on Tuesday that the penalties for garbage disposal in the forest will be tightened. The fine will be increased from 500 PLN to 5 thousand PLN, the number of photo traps will increase five times.

During the briefing, the Minister noted that waste abandoned in the forest is not only a question of generating costs, but also a problem for nature.

We all want clean forests, not scattered rubbish, bottles and - what’s worse - larger ones, such as tyres

— said the minister.

Woś believes that the effective fight for clean forests requires changes.

First of all, increasing the effectiveness of detection

— he said.

We want to increase the number of photo traps by 5 times

— he added.

The minister informed that currently there are 2 thousand traps; this year the number will increase to 5 thousand, which is expected to cost 1 million PLN. Next year the Ministry has planned further 5 thousand traps and some additional equipment for monitoring, e.g. drones.

Tłum. K.J.