War
and Parks
EVERY SPRING,
UKRAINE’S Desna floodplain comes alive as tens
of thousands of ducks, storks, cranes, and other
birds pass through on their seasonal migration.
In the wetland’s lakes, fish dart below yellow
water lilies, while east of the floodplain, pine
forests shelter large herds of elk. Bison, lynx,
and bear meander through trees tangled in moss,
while beavers busy themselves along the
rivers.
These days,
however, much of this vibrant landscape, which
makes up Ukraine’s Desnyansko-Starogutskyi
National Protected Park, is littered with
landmines, carved with craters, and charred by
fire. The park, which shares a 30-kilometer
border with Russia, has been on the frontlines
of the Russo-Ukrainian war since Russia launched
its invasion on February 24, 2022.
Desnyansko-Starogutskyi
is one among many Ukrainian parks that have
suffered deeply since the invasion. Nearly 40
percent of the country’s protected or
ecologically important areas have been occupied
at some point since the war first began in 2014
in Crimea, though most of the damage occurred
after the 2022 invasion. Even those farther from
the front have not escaped unscathed. As
Mykhailo Drebet, head of science and research
for Western Ukraine’s Podilski Tovtry National
Park, puts it, “There is no park that is not
influenced by war.”
The
war has claimed an estimated one million lives,
devastating built and natural spaces alike.
Yet,
despite the immense damage that’s already been
done and the bleak prospect of more to come,
many Ukrainians are already looking to the
future. They are envisioning what recovery may
look like, for the country’s people and its
ecosystems.
Journal Managing
Editor Zoe Loftus-Farren shares the stories of
four individuals who are working to support the
country's national parks amid the war in our
Winter magazine's cover
story. |
