Employees of the State Inspectorate for the Protection of Flora and Fauna under the President of the Republic of Belarus sometimes encounter confusion from fishermen and hunters regarding the stopping and inspection of vehicles. Combating poaching and other violations of environmental legislation in today's reality requires an appropriate approach and specific powers, without which its implementation would be ineffective or even impossible. Unfortunately, citizens' understanding of this issue is far from always evident. From time to time, situations arise on bodies of water in which fishermen begin to assert their rights and obstruct inspectors from inspecting cars, boats, and fishing gear, citing the inadmissibility of such actions on the part of inspectors. And here they are wrong! In accordance with paragraphs. 13.5, paragraph 13 of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 27 dated 15.01.2025, during the course of control activities, employees of the State Inspectorate for the Protection of Fauna and Flora have the right to stop vehicles and floating vehicles, vessels, conduct an inspection of items, vehicles and floating vehicles, vessels, tools and means used to impact natural resources, and other items, as well as a personal search of citizens. Also, in accordance with subparagraph 9.1, paragraph 9 of the Traffic Regulations, the driver's responsibilities include: stopping at the request of a traffic police officer in uniform, as well as officials of the State Inspectorate for the Protection of Fauna and Flora under the President of the Republic of Belarus, the state forestry service, who have the right to stop vehicles only to carry out the functions assigned to the specified bodies. In this case, they must be in uniform, a high-visibility vest with reflective elements and use a disk with a red signal (reflector) to signal. Outside populated areas, during the hours of darkness, a designated vehicle with an activated beacon must be present near the aforementioned individuals. It should be noted that searches of fishermen's and hunters' vehicles are not comprehensive, but rather an exceptional measure applied in cases of reasonable suspicion of violation of environmental legislation. For additional information on issues of wildlife and plant protection, the voluntary surrender of netting materials, fishing nets, and other prohibited fishing gear made from netting materials, clarification of specific environmental issues, information on the work and actions (positive or negative) of employees of territorial divisions of the State Inspectorate, and information on available information on poaching cases,You can contact officials of the State Inspectorate for Wildlife Protection under the President of the Republic of Belarus by calling the hotline: Central Office of the State Inspectorate, Minsk: 8 (017) 39-00-000, 8 (033) 333-6-000 Brest Regional Inspectorate for Wildlife Protection, Brest, 8 (0162) 25-50-00, 8 (033) 633-36-19 Stolin Interdistrict Inspectorate for Wildlife Protection, David-Gorodok, 8 (01655) 51165, 53373 Confidentiality of information is guaranteed. Stolin Interdistrict Inspectorate for Wildlife Protection
