Opposition activists in Hrodna region complain to State Control Committee about forest destruction

Opposition activists in Slonim have complained to the State Control Committee about what they view as the illegal destruction of a forest close to the city in the Hrodna region.

Workers started cutting 30-year-old trees in the forest in 2011 to make way for the construction of housing. The effort was suspended following the intervention of opposition activists who appealed to government agencies.

However, tree cutting resumed in the forest earlier this month. According to activist Ivan Sheha, while authorities claim that only weak and disease-hit trees will be cut, five strips of land, five meters wide and 200 meters long each, have already been cleared inside the forest. "Here all trees have been destroyed and this destruction continues," he said.