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Dear
friends!
We are
continuing our work on analyzing the
environmental consequences of the war in
Ukraine. Apart from working on articles, we also
take active part in conferences, work groups,
and webinars devoted to this topic. In late
August, our experts Eugene
Simonov and Oleksiy
Vasyliuk gave a presentation
at the 14th European Conference on Ecological
Restoration in Tartu, Estonia.
Meanwhile, UWEC editor Alexei
Ovchinnikov joined representatives from
the Ukrainian initiative Razom We Stand at the
14th iteration of the Tbilisi International
Conference, devoted to European security and
organized by the Green European Foundation, to
talk about the
environmental consequences of the war in
Ukraine.
Eugene
Simonov also attended the 46th session of the World
Heritage Committee
(UNESCO), which this year
took place in India. Against the backdrop of
global political polarization caused by the
Russian invasion, it is becoming harder to
protect the Earth’s cultural and natural
heritage, with attempts to find solutions to
issues frequently getting bogged down in
political debates. Are such huge international
institutions as UNESCO capable of continuing to
protect our common heritage and to what extent
are they adapting to the conditions of global
polarization? Read more in this
article:
Mechanisms
for nature conservation were also discussed at a
conference in Ukraine in early July. The main
topics were the collection of data in order to
open an international court case on
ecocide and the consequences of the emptying of
the Kakhovka Reservoir following the destruction
of the dam by Russian forces. As experts note,
natural restoration of nature in Ukraine may
make it possible to achieve climate neutrality
goals and make a significant contribution to the
formation of a “green future” that is not only
Ukrainian, but also European as a whole. Read
about how data on the environmental consequences
of the war in Ukraine is collected, how
international organizations participate in
analysis, and what results they have received to
date in our traditional review:
International
organizations are continuing to provide
significant assistance and support in collecting
data on the environmental consequences of the
war. The Czech organization Arnika
is currently carrying out research in Ukraine
with the aim of obtaining data on the damage
done by the flooding that followed the
destruction of the Kakhovka dam. Unfortunately,
it is difficult to obtain samples for laboratory
analysis in Ukraine at the moment, since the war
goes on and many of the most polluted areas are
located along the frontline. The lower reaches
of the Dnipro River, which were hit particularly
hard by the floodwaters from the Kakhovka
Reservoir, are no exception. Our article looks
at the data collection methods used by Arnika
representatives in collaboration with Ukrainian
scientists and what conclusions they came to as
a result of the analysis.
The issue
of ensuring a green recovery for Ukraine is a
priority for UWEC. While we are confident that
the war will eventually end, it is vital that
the country’s recovery be sustainable and
ecological. Otherwise the consequences for
nature will be even more catastrophic. Forests
are one of the ecosystems that have suffered
most from the war, since they are used for
engineering and camouflage purposes by both
sides, and military operations often lead to
fires. You can read about the impact the war has
had on forest ecosystems and what measures are
required for their active post-war recovery in
our article by Viktoria
Hubareva and Stanislav
Viter.
Our work
group is one of few, if not the only one, which
also tries to carry out analysis of the
environmental consequences of the war in the
occupied territories. We have already written about
the consequences of the construction of the
Crimean Bridge for the local environment and
about the negative impact of the militarization
of the peninsula. In a new article we look at
how the occupation has affected Crimea’s
nature conservation areas. The
conclusions our authors reach after analyzing
satellite images are not exactly comforting. The
unique Yalta Reserve has diminished in size
since the occupation began, and new buildings
and infrastructure have appeared within its
boundaries. We also have information indicating
that if occupation of Crimea continues, there
are plans to remove conservation status from
even larger protected areas. Read more in our
article by Viktoria Hubareva and Oleksiy
Vasyliuk:
You can
find more analysis and news about the
environmental consequences of Russia’s
full-scale invasion of Ukraine on our
website, on
Twitter
(X),
Facebook
and
Telegram.
We wish
you strength and peace!
Alexei
Ovchinnikov, editor UWEC Work
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