Azerbaijan needs severer penalties to prevent deforestation
By Fatma Babayeva
The amount of fines and gasification level of villages seems to be not enough to prevent deforestation process in Azerbaijan. There is a need for urgent solution in order to preserve fauna and flora of the country.
Azerbaijan should apply more severe penalties for the damage to the fertile forestland, said Aydin Huseynov, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament.
Penalty for the damage to fertile layers of forestlands should be separated from the penalty for the damage to fertile soil in villages, Huseynov said at the meeting of the parliamentary committee on agrarian policy on March 23.
The Code for Administrative Offences of the Azerbaijan Republic constitutes punishments for damage caused to fertile layer of land, which also includes forestlands, but I believe that a case of damaging forestland should be introduced as separate punishment since forests cover about 12 percent of Azerbaijani territory at present, MP said.
According to the Code of Administrative Offences, a penalty for damage to fertile layer of land (including forestlands) for individuals is 70 ($44.5) to 100 manats ($63.4) in fine, for public officials it comprises from 500 ($317) to 700 manats($445), and for legal entities from 1,000 ($634) to 1,500($952) manats.
The MP stressed that to reduce deforestation there is also a need to speed up the gasification of the villages located near the forestlands. Basically, deforestation and damage to forestland are a result of human interference to the nature. "The residents of nearby villages cut down trees to heat their homes," said Huseynov.
Azerigaz company reported that the number of gas subscribers in Azerbaijan is almost 1.87 million, and the level of gasification in the country is about 91 percent.
The trees can only be cut in case when the tree is decayed or may fall with the permission from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Azerbaijan Republic.
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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva
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