The Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania oversees the environment and natural resources in Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. Its mission is:

• To implement the principle of sustainable development;
• To set preconditions for rational utilization, protection and restoration of natural resources;
• To ensure provision of information about the state of environment and its forecasts to the public;
• To create conditions for the development of construction business and the provision of residents with housing;
• To ensure a proper environmental quality, taking into account the norms and standards of the European Union
  European Union
  The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
  
  .

The Environment Protection Department, accountable to the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas

Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas

The Supreme Council Supreme Council – Restoration Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania , was the supreme governing body, elected in 1990...

, was established to oversee environment protection and exploitation of natural resources after Lithuania declared independence from the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 in 1990. In 1996, the Department was reorganized into Ministry of Environmental Protection. In 1998, after the merger with Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, it was renamed to Ministry of Environment. Thus it became responsible for construction, territorial planning, and housing. The Ministry has numerous divisions and subordinate institutions responsible for protected areas, environment protection, geological survey

Geological survey

The term geological survey can be used to describe both the conduct of a survey for geological purposes and an institution holding geological information....

, forestry, metrology

Metrology

Metrology is the science of measurement. Metrology includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement. The word comes from Greek μέτρον , "measure" + "λόγος" , amongst others meaning "speech, oration, discourse, quote, study, calculation, reason"...

, and meteorology

Meteorology

Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...

 services, marine research. The Ministry also runs the Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum

Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum

The Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum was established in Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1919 by Tadas Ivanauskas. The museum collects and exhibits various animals: hunting trophies, stuffed animals, insect collections, skeletons, dissections...

.

Ministers

Ministers

Name	From	To
Bronius Bradauskas	1996-05-06	1996-12-04
Imantas Lazdinis	1996-12-04	1998-03-25
Algis Čaplikas	1998-03-25	1999-04-08
Danius Lygis	1999-04-08	2000-12-04
Henrikas Žukauskas	2000-12-04	2001-10-27
Arūnas Kundrotas	2001-10-27	2008-01-31
Artūras Paulauskas Arturas Paulauskas Artūras Paulauskas is a Lithuanian politician. He was the Speaker of Seimas, the parliament of Lithuania, from 2000 to 2006, and he served as Acting President of Lithuania from 6 April 2004 to 12 July 2004.-Early career:...	2008-01-31	2008-11-28
Gediminas Kazlauskas	2008-11-28	Present