Specialists warn the burning of vegetal waste in the field seriously affects the fertility of soil. Any organic waste should return to the soil and must not be burned. In Moldova, the cleaning of areas by burning is spread owing to poverty and the lack of knowledge as to how the vegetal waste can be used, academician Andrei Ursu, expert in pedology, has told IPN.

“In order to give birth to other organic products and add nutritive elements to the soil for other plants, the vegetal waste must not be burned, but left to decompose. Soil has a much more active life than it seems. A lot of processes take place inside it, not only from ecological viewpoint, but also as regards soil as a refuge for other living things,” stated the academician.

Doctor Vasile Stegarescu, scientific secretary of the Institute of Ecology and Geography, said that when burning organic waste, the soil microflora is destroyed and the fertility capacities of the soil are lost. From ecological view, the vegetal waste should remain in the soil so as to increase the quantity of minerals in it.

Specialists urge economic entities to find solutions to develop green economy. “The vegetal waste can be used to make briquettes and pallets that can serve as an important source of fuel. Earlier, the people made natural fertilizers in order to revitalize the soil,” said Dumitru Osipov, head of the Informational Synthesis Section of the State Ecological Inspectorate.

According to him, the legislation does not severely punish those who cause vegetation fires. Moreover, not all of the wrongdoers can be identified. “There are economic entities that pay children to set fire to vegetation so as to escape punishment,” stated Dumitru Osipov.

Under Article 115 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, the burning of vegetal waste in the field is punished with a fine of 2,000 to 3,000 lei in the case of private individuals and of 8,000 to 10,000 lei in the case of legal entities.

This year the firefighters have dealt with 657 vegetation fires and landfills. In order to prevent such ecological disasters, the population is recommended to collect the waste separately and to cover the vegetal waste with earth so that it turns into compost and is used as a natural fertilizer on farmland.