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Dear
Friends!
Some of the environmental
consequences of Russia's military intervention
in Ukraine are talked about often and loudly.
Others go unnoticed, but in the long run, those
can be much more dangerous, for example, the
introduction of invasive species in occupied
territories. Taking advantage of ecosystems
destroyed and disturbed by shelling and combat
and with no natural enemies, the “aliens”
species quickly capture territories, creating
springboards for their further spread. Thus, the
war is not only military in nature, but also
biological. Read about this invasion in an
article by Natalia Pashkevich, PhD in Biology
and senior researcher at the Department of
Geobotany and Ecology at the Institute of Botany
(National Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine).
Today,
data has already begun to be collected on the
environmental impacts of the military invasion.
Unfortunately, significant territories of
Ukraine are still under occupation. The first
expeditions to study these impacts specifically
on protected areas occurred September-December
last year. Katerina Polyanska of the NGO
"Environment. People. Law" participated in
several such expeditions and shared her
observations of the aftermath of retreating
Russian troops on national parks with UWEC Work
Group.
In
November, media published the shocking news
of the Russian soldiers stringing up hamsters.
Small mammals are at particular risk during the
invasion, and a number of these species are
listed in Ukraine’s Red Book for at-risk
species. At the same time, most of the
hostilities are occurring in eastern Ukraine, on
steppe landscapes, a unique and important
biotope home to numerous rare rodent species.
Mikhail Rusin, a researcher at the Kyiv Zoo and
the Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, writes
about what is happening to small mammals in
Ukraine today and the threats posed by the
large-scale invasion.
With
numerous recent deaths, Caspian seals are also
being called victims of the war. In November
2022 more than 2,000 individual seals were found
dead on the shorelines of Russia, Kazakhstan,
Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan in the Black and
Azov Seas. Our expert Eugene Simonov assembled
the most common explanations and concluded that,
if not directly, then at least indirectly, the
war is decreasing chances of survival of
these unique marine mammals. As with many other
environmental processes in Russia, environmental
conservation activities in the northern Caspian
Sea have been put on hold due to the
invasion.
Another
rare species endangered by Russia's militaristic
ambitions is the polar bear. Opening protected
area to military exercises on Wrangel Island are
threatening to destroy critical habitat for this
species. The island serves as the world's
largest natural nursery for young polar bears.
Eugene Simonov examines this situation more
closely.
The
environmental consequences of the invasion of
Ukraine are being discussed around the world,
including at the recent World Economic Forum in
Davos, Switzerland. Although the war has yet to
become a key issue at such events, it is clear
that leaders are keeping it in mind when
discussing economics. We live in times of
interconnected global crises, including climate
change. Guest writer Vera Kuzmina writes about
how both military conflicts and direct lobbying
for fossil fuels only create additional problems
for the planet and humanity.
We
continue to track the war’s environmental
consequences on our Website, Twitter, and
Facebook.
Wishing
you strength and
peace!
Alexei Ovchinnikov,
Editor
UWEC Work
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