In the Navoi region, eco-police fined people gathering wild berries without a permit

Raid in the Khatyrchi district

In the Navoi region, eco-police fined two people for unauthorized gathering of wild berries. As reported by the regional Ecology Department, the ecology and climate change department of the Khatyrchi district conducted a raid, during which two people were identified in the Angidon mahalla gathering and transporting dogwood berries without the appropriate permit (Kun.uz).

Fines and damage

Administrative protocols were drawn up against the offenders, referred to in the report as Sh.Sh. and Yo.R., under Part 1 of Article 79-1 of the Code of Administrative Liability — violation of the procedure and conditions for gathering, harvesting and using plant resources. One was fined ten times the base calculation value, the other seven times, totaling 7 million 480 thousand soums. In addition, the damage caused to nature was assessed at 1 million 3 thousand soums. In total, each offender will have to pay about 7.5 million soums in fines and 1 million soums in damage compensation.

How to obtain the right to gather legally

According to a Cabinet of Ministers resolution, the right of special use of wild plants is granted through electronic online auctions — that is, gathering berries or other natural resources is allowed only with a permit obtained in this way. The practice of fining people for gathering without documents is not new in the region: several years ago in the Navoi region, according to Kun.uz, ecologists fined the owner of a goat that had eaten mulberry leaves 2.6 million soums, which at the time sparked public protests.