By government decision, it will be possible to hunt in the Žuvintas reserve.

So, as of August 15 it is possible to hunt here some species of waterfowl, and as of September 15 others. According to the director of the Lithuanian Ornithological Society Liutauras Raudonikis, the Ministry of Environment did not take into account the proposals of this society to prohibit the hunting of waterfowl in protected areas. Arūnas Pranaitis, director of the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve, says that hunting will cause great long-term damage to concentrations of waterfowl. Due to the changed provisions of the reserve, the presidency also joined the conservationists, but at least for the moment the situation has not changed.

Grėsmė – tūkstančiams paukščių

According to A. Pranaitis, Director of the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve, Lake Žuvintas and its surroundings are the first territory in Lithuania where bird hunting was banned during pre-war independent Lithuania, its ban within a radius one kilometer from Lake Žuvintas appeared in 1928 and was valid almost without exception until 1967. s.

Subsequently, the no-go zone for hunting waterfowl was extended to a few kilometers from the boundary of the first Žuvintas nature reserve in the country, established in 1937.

After the establishment of the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve on the basis of this reserve and adjacent reserves in 2002, bird hunting is prohibited throughout this protected area. The Žuvintas Nature Reserve has become the most important part or nucleus of the biosphere reserve.

In early July, after the government approved amendments to the regulations of this biosphere reserve presented by the Minister of the Environment K. Mažeika, all restrictions related to hunting were lifted.

According to L. Raudonikis, director of the Lithuanian Ornithological Society, the Minister of the Environment, who approved the amendments to the Hunting Rules in the Republic of Lithuania, did not take into account the Society’s proposals to ban the hunting of birds aquatic areas in all international Natura 2000 areas, including the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve. as a meeting place for migratory birds.

The Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve is also included in the list of sites of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, the United Nations Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially for the Conservation of Waterfowl and Wetlands.

After the entry into force of the provisions of this biosphere reserve modified by the Government, in accordance with the terms established in the Hunting Rules in the Territory of the Republic of Lithuania, the hunting of waterfowl in Žuvinas became possible as in any other unprotected place in Lithuania.

Therefore, thousands of waterfowl that fly regularly in the Žuvintas reserve were in real danger.

Starting on August 15, large ducks, brown-headed terns, teal ducks, thunderbirds, slugs, grasshoppers and white-fronted geese can be legally killed on the shores of Lake Žuvintas, and from September 15, ducks and fields with tufts.

According to the data available to specialists from the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve, almost a thousand ha are currently concentrated in Lake Žuvintas. wild ducks, almost 4 thousand. gray geese, in the vicinity of the lake – more than a thousand. 200 gray lathes.

According to A. Pranaitis, the area of ​​the Žuvintas nature reserve, where the hunting of waterfowl is prohibited, in some places is less than 80 meters wide around the most famous bird lake in Lithuania, making it legally possible to hunt completely on the shore of lake Žuvintas. It is important that the fired bird does not fall into the protected area.

“There are no restrictions for hunting birds not only in the accesses of Lake Žuvintas, but also in the very important protection of migratory birds in Lake Žalytis, which is protected in the Biosphere Reserve of Žuvintas as a botanical zoological reserve”, says the director of the reserve.

“I am very hopeful that the hunters have a conscience and self-esteem”

When A. Pranaitis asked if waterfowl hunters had already been seen in the reserve, he stated that the employees had heard the shots, but it is difficult to say if the birds were hunted: “We cannot control this process when legal hunting is legalized in amended government regulations. I sincerely hope that hunters have the conscience and self-esteem not to exercise their newly granted right to hunt birds on the shores of Lake Žuvintas. But if someone were to exercise that right, concentrations of waterfowl would be seriously damaged in the long term. It does not matter if the hunter shoots or does not shoot. Even a single shot can distract groups of sensitive birds, such as winches or geese, for a long time, for whose protection the entire biosphere reserve is declared an international Natura 2000 site ”.

Many waterfowl gather in places where they find food and are safe. Until now, fish has been a safe place for birds. Entire populations of birds have felt safe and pristine from injections here for decades.

Dabar rezervatas gali tapti paukščių medžioklės plotais.

Pasigendama ministries initiatyvos

According to L. Raudonikis, director of the Lithuanian Ornithological Society, the legalization of bird hunting in the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve is just one case. does not take the initiative to legalize the obligations assumed by the State in relation to the hunting of birds in the territories specially established for their protection. As I mentioned, it did not even take into account our society’s proposals to ban hunting in waterfowl protection areas. We believe that the Hunting Rules should include a list of such areas. “

As L. Raudonikis said, the Government has approved the General Regulation on Important Areas for the Protection of Habitats or Birds, which clearly establishes that aquatic and wetland birds cannot be hunted in sets of small geese and brown ducks in danger of extinction worldwide, except in some cases, for example, regulating abundance of great cormorants in fishing ponds.

According to the director of the Lithuanian Ornithological Society, the same conservation status should be applied to the protection of migratory water and wetland birds: claws with ears and horns, white herons, swans, geese, terns, gray ducks and other protected ducks, fields, winches, terns, Natura 2000 Sites of importance to birds: “However, all these restrictions only come into force after direct transposition into protected area legislation or hunting regulations. Now, as in the case of the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve, the previous restrictions on hunting birds are completely abolished. “

The presidency has not yet received a response from the government

At the end of July, the Lithuanian Ornithological Society and the non-governmental environmental organization Baltic Environmental Forum appealed to President Gitanas Naus endas regarding the amended provisions of the Government of the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve, which legalized the hunting of birds. aquatic and ice fishing for a large number of inhabitants.

Concerns about the destruction of the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve have not been taken into account in the Government’s adoption of the amended reserve regulations, which show that fishing in Lake Žuvintas has a negative impact on the ecosystem of this exceptionally shallow and sensitive lake and that predators are rapidly diminishing.

The presidency, having received such a request from the aforementioned organizations, in turn addressed the Government at the beginning of August.

It is observed in the speech of the Presidency that when the Government adopted a resolution that modifies the provisions of the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve, it was not taken into account that fishing, as a possible activity in natural reserves, is not established in the Law of Protected Areas or the Law of Special Conditions of Land Use.

The letter from the Presidency to the Government also believes that any decision on the reserve can only be made after a thorough discussion with the public and a clear scientific assessment of the potential impact of the changes on such valuable areas and their ecosystems.

As representatives of non-governmental organizations, scientists, and specialists in protected areas have indicated that the changes introduced by the Government Resolution may have a significant negative impact on the condition of the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve, the Presidency hopes that the Government will take into account consider your arguments and those of the NGOs and decide to change the resolution accordingly.

To date, the government has not responded to the presidency. Therefore, hunting of waterfowl is already possible in Žuvinta, and perhaps ice fishing will also be successful: the protected area is turning into a certain entertainment zone. Is this protected area established for this purpose and is it still in the global network of biosphere reserves?