Headline News Citizens all over Lithuania gathered for forest clean-up talks – it was the third time that the “Forest Company” organized by foresters took place
Assessment
September 9 The traditional forest management workshop “Miško kuopa” organized by the State Forestry Agency and the Ministry of the Environment took place throughout Lithuania. The taluka took place in all 26 regional units of the State Forest Office.
“We are happy that the universal forest management taluk, which has become a beautiful, sustainable and significant tradition, brings together more and more citizens who care about the cleanliness and conservation of nature every year – representatives of various professions, communities, schoolchildren. Every year, we dig out hundreds of tons of various waste from the forests, this is the everyday life of foresters. We hope that this clean-up initiative, which includes elements of nature preservation, management and community spirit, will encourage the public not to pollute nature and not to leave garbage dumps in the forests”, says Valdas Kaubrė, Director General of the State Forest Office.
This year, a record number of about 1,000 helpers participated in “Miško kuopa” and collected about 115 tons of garbage in Lithuanian forests. Only in the Šalčininkai branch of the State Forestry Office, around Vilnius, as many as 9 tons of garbage – various wastes and about 40 tires – were collected. Household appliances, tires that have been decaying in nature for more than a century, plastic, construction scrap, and car parts have been collected and will be removed from the forests, which have become much cleaner after this day.
“I am happy that this already traditional event attracts more and more forest managers and helpers every year. I want to believe that we will see a day when this beautiful initiative will disappear, because the forests will no longer be turned into illegal dumps. And today I thank those who really care about the beauty of our forests”, says Deputy Environment Minister Kęstutis Šetkus.
About 1,000 tons of various waste are collected in forests every year. The biggest concern for foresters is household and bulky waste dumped in forests.
The places where the cleanup took place were chosen by foresters based on where forest polluters usually leave garbage, get rid of bulky or construction waste.
For the third time, “Miško kuopa” has gathered the nature-loving public to clean the forests of garbage, which become sources of pollution and fires in Lithuanian forests.
Also, one of the most important goals of the campaign is to educate the public about sustainable and responsible behavior in nature, since the amount of waste removed from the forests every year shows that the organization of such taluks and public education is necessary.
To the promotion in 2022 700 people joined and collected about 90 tons of various wastes throughout Lithuania per day: plastic, tires, old furniture, various pieces of equipment.
