DECREE 503 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA

Vilnius, April 10 2002

On awarding of powers to implement the Lithuanian Republic's Protected Territories Law

On the basis of the Lithuanian Republic's Law on Protected Territories (Valstybės žinios 1993 No. 63-1188; 2001 No. 108-3902), the Government of the Republic of Lithuania RESOLVES:
1. To empower the Environment Ministry:
to be responsible for the organisation of protection, care and maintenance in nature reserves, nature and combined strict reserves, the territories of natural heritage (natural monuments) objects, national parks (except Trakai Historical National park), regional parks, biosphere reserves and biosphere polygons restoration and genetic plots and as expertise permits, in ecological protection zones;
according to its capabilities to draft and confirm individual protection regulations for national and regional parks;
according to its capabilities to confirm staff lists of state-protected territories;
to draft and confirm statutes for checking on state-controlled protected territories;
to draft and confirm temporary regional architectural regulations for construction in protected territories;
according to its competence to projects for amending Lithuanian republic government decrees on founding state strict reserves, reserve areas, biosphere reserves, the setting up of and changing of the boundaries and types of these protected territories, and also those setting and changing national park boundaries;
to draft and confirm statutes of the most important natural heritage sites;
to declare sites a natural heritage object and confirm their boundary plans;
provide proposals of sites for Lithuanian Govt decrees on proclaiming them very important natural heritage sites;
set up biosphere polygons, restoration and genetic plots and according to its competence, ecological protection zones and the boundaries thereof’
draft and confirm biosphere polygon statutes;
draft and confirm special environmental research programmes for monitoring biosphere territories;
draft and confirm the statutes of restoration and genetic plots;
to draft and confirm the order for establishing surface waterways protection zones and shore-line protection bands;
the way for setting up the Natura-2000 European ecological network;
draft and confirm statutes for the natural framework;
set down the order according to which non-state organisations, individuals and bodies at law may initiate the foundations of strict reserves and reserves and the declaration of heritage objects;
to establish the order according to which the owners and guardians of land and other non-moveable property can make claims to propose setting up new protected territories and change the status or borders of protected territories that already exist;
establish and confirm the criteria for setting up protected territories (including ornithological and other important habitat territories);
draft and confirm ways of assessing action plans and projects for bird and baitat protection territories;
according to competence propose protected territories for inclusion on lists of international protected territories;
according to competence apply projects for confirming boundary plans and lists for Lithuanian Govt decrees on protected territories or parts thereof that meet the requirements of established international documents;
according to competence propose protected territories and their boundaries for marking on land register maps and in territorial planning documents;
to set up the way in which directors of state parks and their deputies are appointed members of Joint Councils;
draft and confirm rules for drafting protected territory territorial planning documents and establish the way in which protected territory boundary plans are drafted;
to establish the way for assessing specialists and bodies at law that draft protected territory special planning documents;
Version of Lithuanian Republic Govt Resolution 1828, dated Nov. 22 2002 (as of Nov 28 2002) (Valstybės žinios 2002, No. 113-5041) according to competence to confirm the planning schemes, planning projects and strategic planning documents of protected territories (nature reserves, biosphere reserves, nature and combined strict reserves, national parks, nature heritage objects);
Draft strategic nature maintenance plans for protected territories;
Forbid or restrict the use and flow of motor transport and water transport in protected territories, hunting, fishing, mushroom picking, the picking of plants and their parts, the use and visiting of protected objects;
To draft and confirm a means of assessing damage done to protected territories.
2. To empower the State Protected Territory Service within the Ministry of the environment to:
2.1 carry out the functions of the body running a protected territories state land register;
2.2 according to competence draw up protection agreements for restricting activity, conditions for using certain areas of land, forest and waterway with the owners or guardians of land, forest plots and waterways when their land and forest plots or waterways are within a protected territory;
2.3 according to competence organise drafting programmes for protecting and running protected territories;
2.4 according to competence carry out inspection of state strict reserves and heritage sites;
2.5 ask the keeper of the Property Register to include in this register the activity restrictions or other requirements found in legal acts or territorial planning documents connected with the protected territory, if they were not recorded when restoring land ownership rights, when using, transferring or selling it.
3. The Ministry of Culture is empowered to:
3.1 be responsible for organising protection, inspection or maintenance in cultural reserves (museum-reserves), cultural and, in accordance with competence, combined strict reserves, cultural heritage sites (cultural monument territories), Trakai Historical National Park and, according to competence, ecological zones;
3.2 draft and confirm individual protection regulations for Trakai Historical National Park and the Kernavė Cultural Reserve;
3.3 according to competence draw up protection agreements restricting activities, conditions of use for specific land, forest and water sites with the owners and guardians of land and forest plots, waterways, when the said site lie within the bounds of a protected territory;
3.4 provide proposals of sites for Lithuanian Govt decrees on proclaiming them very important natural heritage sites;
3.5 according to competence present projects for Lithuanian Republic government decrees establishing state cultural strict reserves, establishing or changing the boundaries thereof;
3.6 according to competence organise international collaboration connected with protected territories;
3.7 set down how cultural reserves (museum reserves) should be used and visited;
3.8 according to competence propose protected territories for inclusion on lists of international protected territories;
3.9 ask the Lithuanian Republic govt to confirm the boundary plans and lists of protected territories (cultural reserves, cultural strict reserves and cultural heritage objects) or parts thereof that meet the requirements of international documents;
ask for the boundaries of protected territories (cultural reserves, cultural strict reserves, Trakai Historical National Park, cultural heritage objects) and their protection zones to be marked on land register maps and in territorial planning documents;
confirm the planning schemes, maintenance plans and strategic development documents (monument maintenance plans) of protected territories (cultural reserves, cultural strict reserves, Trakai Historical National Park, cultural heritage objects);
draft strategic monument maintenance plans for protected territories
according to competence to confirm the list of state protected territory officials;
Lithuanian Republic Govt Resolution 886, July 8 2003 Edition, as of July 11 2003, (Valstybės žinios, 2003 No. 69-3127)
To confirm the regulations for protecting cultural objects (non-movable property treasures) as drawn up by the Cultural Treasures’ Protection Dept within the Ministry of Culture.
4. To empower the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Culture to:
4.1 set down and confirm the way in which protected territories are to be marked on site;
4.2 submit projects for Lithuanian Republic Govt decrees on including combined strict reserves on international protected territory lists;
ask the Lithuanian Republic Govt to confirm boundary plans and lists of combined strict reserves or parts thereof that meet the requirements of international documents;
prosecute those who damage protected territories and heritage objects and seek compensation;
Instruct the Environment Ministry to draft and present the following draft legislation to the Govt of the Republic of Lithuania:
model regulations for protected territories;
nature reserve statutes;
nature and combined strict reserve statutes;
biosphere reserve statutes;
national and regional park statutes;
protection regulations for surface water reservoir protection zones and shoreline protection belt;
the procedure for carrying out economic evaluations, as carried out when planning to establish protected territories or reserve sites for protected territories;
the procedure for setting up state strict reserves, biosphere monitoring territories, declaring heritage objects to be protected, when the said cultural or natural heritage territories are threatened with disappearance, destruction or loss of value;
the procedure for setting up local authority strict reserves and declaring local authority objects protected;
general statutes for bird and habitat protection sites;
the procedure for submitting areas of European Community importance to the European Commission;
the regulations for special protection of protected territories included in international protected territory lists;
statutes of a state register of protected territories;
the procedure for drafting and confirming protected territory strategic planning documents;
the procedure for calculating and paying compensation when setting up new protected territories, changing the status of existing protected territories or after setting activity restrictions that reduce benefit from the territory;
the procedure for applying land tax and other concessions to land owners and guardians in protected territories;
boundary plans of biosphere reserves and their protection zones.

6. Instruct the Ministry of Culture to draft and present the following legislative drafts to the Govt of the Republic of Lithuania:
Cultural Reservation statutes;
Cultural Strict Reserve Statutes;
The rules for establishing physical and visual protection sub-zones for cultural heritage sites (non-movable property treasures).

7. Instruct the Environment Ministry in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture to draft and present to the Lithuanian Republic Govt projects for the procedure of drawing up protection agreements with the owners and guardians of land and forest plots and waterways for the forms of restricting the use thereof.


Minister of Finance, deputising for the Prime Minister, Dalia Grybauskaitė


Minister of the Environment, Arūnas Kundrotas