The head of the Ministry of the Environment Michał Woś announced tougher penalties for littering in forests. Why? The State Forests spend PLN 20 million annually cleaning up rubbish illegally dumped in forest areas.
How will the government combat illegal dumps in forests?
First, ministry officials want to focus on improving the detection of offenders. That is why the number of camera traps is set to increase fivefold.
Second, the penalties will be higher. As the polsatnews.pl website reports
:The Ministry of the Environment has prepared a bill amending the Code of Petty Offenses and strengthening penalties for littering in forests. The fine is to be increased from the current PLN 500 to PLN 5,000, and the court will additionally be able to impose a penalty requiring the offender to clean up a forest.
The minister noted that, in addition to remedying the damage caused, judges will be able to impose an additional penalty in the form of community service involving the cleaning of forest areas, for example for a specified period such as one month.
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