Pollution of Belovezhskaya Pushcha_dumping rubbish

Pollution of Belovezhskaya Pushcha: dumping rubbish, the village of Kamenyuki, 2006 - 2009

Violations: Articles 26 and 27 of Belarus' "Specially Protected Wilderness Territories and Sites Act".

Events, facts, documents and evidence: A serious problem has sprung up in Belovezhskaya Pushcha in the recent years - rubbish pollution. Both the local population and the national park's services are a source of this pollution. The problem has already been described in detail on older pages – "Pollution, the village of Kamenyuki, 2004", "Pollution, the village of Kamenyuki, 2005" and "Pollution, the village of Belaya, 2005". Everybody knows about the negative consequences of this kind of pollution towards a protected forest, so there is no need in getting the additional description of it.

In 2006 to 2009 a monitoring of sanitary conditions in woods of Belovezhskaya Pushcha around the administrative center of the national park – the village of Kamenyuki – has been continued. Inspections revealed that, as before, sanitary conditions in the woods of Belovezhskaya Pushcha surrounding the village of Kamenyuki are still unsatisfactory. Although something is periodically done in the forest areas of the national park for clearing the forest of rubbish but these efforts are obviously insufficient.

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(A sanitation car takes away rubbish in the village of Kamenyuki; 1 – July 27, 2008; 2 – March 21, 2008)

The central site of dumping, as before, was closed to hinder local citizens to dump rubbish. A sign which indicates the prohibition of using the dump place is next to a road.

(A sign which indicates the prohibition; May 03, 2009)


("Correspondence" on a fence between the national park and the local population; May 03, 2009)

The national park's service delivers wastes of wood processing, domestic waste and other rubbish.


(Rubbish and wastes of wood processing on the dump area; November 15, 2009)


(Stumps on the dump area; May 03, 2009)



(Wastes of wood processing on the dump area; November 15, 2009)

Wastes of wood processing, domestic waste and other rubbish are burned from time to time and are buried.


(Burning of wastes of wood processing on the dump area; April 28, 2008)


(Burying of wastes of wood processing on the dump area; November 15, 2009)

In surroundings of the dumping site, heaps of domestic rubbish appear from time to time. The rubbish is simply delivered by the population to the forest.


(Heaps of plastic materials in the forest near the dump area; May 03, 2009)

The photos below show a new dump area made in 2004. It is seen that this dumping groand is already full of rubbish. This testifies that the administrative centre produces a big amount of rubbish and is a serious source of chemical pollution for the environment in the national park.


(A new dump area in the forest; March 21, 2008)

It earlier was shown how strong rubbish pollution is in the forest surrounding the dump area. Some heaps of rubbish are removed as, for example, it is shown in the shots below.

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(1 – rubbish in the wayside dike, November 02, 2005; 2 – no rubbish in the wayside dike, March 21, 2008)

Nevertheless, these efforts are obviously not enough of cleaning rubbish in the wood. The population continues to carry rubbish to the forest, not to the dump area.



(Rubbish in the forest surrounding the village of Kamenyuki; March 21, 2008)

(A heap and a bag with rubbish in the forest close to a sawmill area; May 05, 2006)

The shots below show the area around the new dumping site which gets pollution because of strong wind moving rubbish.


(Rubbish in the forest moved by wind from the dump area; March 21, 2008)

As has already been specified in older pages, the administration of the National Park has created a (non-authorized and illegal) dumping ground in a pine wood 1.5 kilometers from the village of Kamenyuki. Inspection revealed that rubbish is not delivered any more there. Even some imitation of cleaning of the territory have been carried out – a part of household and building rubbish have been taken out, while the other part (heaps) have been leveled by bulldozer and have been covered with ground, sawdust and wastes of wood processing.



(Household and building rubbish on the non-authorized dumping ground; December 04, 2006)

The shots below show the natural process of forest regeneration for which young pine trees make the way through plastic rubbish produced by human.


(Young pine trees together with plastic rubbish; December 04, 2006)

Heaps of sawdust, bark and wastes of wood processing in most cases have also been leveled by bulldozer. Only "hills" which are very big in size have been left in depth of the non-authorized dumping ground.


(The area leveled at the non-authorized dumping ground; December 04, 2006)


("Hills" left at the non-authorized dumping ground; December 04, 2006)

New heaps of household rubbish were found out only here and there on the non-authorized dumping ground.


(New heaps of household rubbish at the non-authorized dumping ground; December 04, 2006)

At the same time there was found out a lot of rubbish in the forest surrounding the non-authorized dumping ground and along a road going there. Rubbish is carried by the local population.



(Rubbish in the forest surrounding the non-authorized dumping ground and along a road; December 04, 2006)

The observance of rules to get the environment clean of rubbish covers the most simple ecological issues. Therefore, all facts shown above testify to the lowest ecological culture of both the local population and the employees of the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha". The appropriate services of the national park do not work with the local population on these issues at all. However, this work is managed for the park's employees badly too. That provokes the main reason to get the excessive pollution of rubbish in the forest areas around centers of population in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

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(Domestic rubbish is thrown out by the locals everywhere including beside a river; 1 – July 31, 2008; 2 – September 24, 2009; 3 and 4 – August 10, 2008; 5 – September 04, 2008; 6 – April 03, 2009)