Polesia is extremely rich in wetland ecosystems that are crucial for maintaining biodiversity, regulating water regimes, and mitigating climate change. However, in the past century, they have been subjected to drainage reclamation and other anthropogenic impacts, which has led to significant degradation of these ecosystems. Among the negative consequences of these processes are extreme fluctuations in water levels – from lasting droughts to destructive floods, growing carbon emissions and habitat transformation, burning of woodlands and peatlands, a decrease in surface waters quantity and quality during the low water period, and the development of wind erosion. As a result, habitats are undergoing radical transformation, and peatlands are no longer able to regulate water and carbon compounds.  Restoration of hydrological regimes of the disturbed wetlands is the way to prevent further ecosystem degradation and loss.  

Some time ago, we jointly with our partners selected a few sites with the best prospects of restoration in the Ukrainian Polesia. Two of them are located in the Rivnenskyi Strict Nature Reserve – they are the Syra Pohonia and Somyne mire complexes.  

Works on restoration of the hydrological regime of the Syra Pohonia Bog involve specialists of our project, employees of the Rivne Strict Nature Reserve and the National University of Water and Environmental Engineering (in Rivne, Ukraine). The recently launched hydrological monitoring will track the ground water levels in the reserve’s disturbed mires and the outflow of water from the canals.  

According to experts’ estimates, now, Syra Pohonia loses about 2.5 million cubic meters of water per month during the spring flood due to the impact of drainage channels. Instead of accumulating water in the wet season and releasing it in the dry season, this water flows rapidly in the spring, causing flooding in the surrounding villages downstream. Instead, during the dry summer and fall months, there is a significant shortage of water and soil moisture, which leads to the spread of fires and has a negative impact on agriculture in the areas adjacent to the mires.  

Fluctuations in the groundwater levels have a particularly strong impact on the local population, especially on residents of adjacent villages, who often suffer from seasonal flooding. By restoring marshland areas in the Syra Pohonia and Somyne massifs, the project initiators aim to raise and stabilize the water table within the reserve to reduce extreme water fluctuations outside of it, thereby reducing the risk of future flooding. This monitoring program will not only support the restoration process, but will also serve to inform communities of potential changes in water levels that could have a positive impact on their lives, such as increased water levels in wells or reduced risk of flooding of private households, agricultural land and local infrastructure.   

The initiative aims to restore the hydrological regime of the Syra Pohonia and Somyne peatland complexes, as well as to predict the impact of restoration measures on the ecosystem. The restoration project is expected to last for 18 months, followed by continuous monitoring and research for at least the next 10 years.  

Wetlands play a key role in storing and purifying freshwater, maintaining biodiversity and mitigating climate change. Some scientists say that life on Earth itself depends on wetlands because their ecosystem services are vital. The global problem is that they are degrading and disappearing at an extremely rapid rate – about 85% of the world’s wetlands have been lost, and this process has speeded up in the last 30 years due to human economic activities and climate change.

A vast belt of European lowland bogs that once stretched from France to western Siberia has been largely drained. In Polesia, however, a remnant of this ancient bog massif has been preserved. The inhabitants of Polesia are sometimes metaphorically referred to as ‘the people of the bog’. And life in the marshes is not easy at all: lack of arable land and communication routes, low crop yields, epidemics and other unfavourable factors led people to reclaim land from the marshes for economic purposes. Only in the last period of massive reclamation, from the 1960s to the 1980s, about 3 million hectares of wetlands were drained in Polesia. The results of this activity were not as expected: the newly reclaimed lands remained fertile and highly productive for several years. Over time, however, they created more problems than benefits and were often abandoned.

Drainage of peatlands in Polesia has gradually led to desertification. In addition to depleted peatlands, the region has a large amount of peat soils, where the peat degrades very quickly under conditions of low groundwater levels. On 223,000 hectares of agricultural land, the soil has been completely destroyed, and almost the same area has been degraded by peat extraction, with the process of peat layer destruction continuing. If these anthropogenic changes are not stopped today, they will lead to very low yields and a rapid decline in biodiversity in the near future.

Draining wetlands has a negative impact on the ecology of adjacent areas. Wetlands lose their role as stabilisers of the hydrological conditions in the entire catchment area, small rivers and watercourses dry up and entire ecosystems are degraded. Recent research has shown that a 50-70 cm drop in groundwater levels results in a significant loss of biodiversity. It also increases the eutrophication of rivers and lakes. Every year, about 1.5 million tonnes of mineral and 700,000 tonnes of water-soluble organic substances flow from the drained areas of Polesia into the Black Sea via the Pripyat and Dnieper rivers.

At the same time, intensive land reclamation for peat extraction and agriculture is paving the way for the emergence of many areas that no longer provide any economic benefit, while emitting between 5 and 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare per year. Ecologists estimate that rewetting 200,000 hectares of disturbed peatlands that are not used for agriculture or peat extraction will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Remarkably, rewetting is one of the cheapest ways to decrease CO₂ emissions. Thus, wetland restoration and subsequent accurate accounting of greenhouse gas emission reductions in Polesia could be an important step for the countries that share this region to enter the global carbon market and sell free emission quotas.

The drained and degraded agricultural land, which is increasing in area, is a source of another negative phenomenon – wildfires. Initially, groundwater levels have been lowered artificially, but the situation is worsened by mild, snow-free winters and prolonged periods of warm, dry weather, which have become more frequent in recent years. Fighting wildfires costs a lot of money and resources every year. Peatland fires are particularly dangerous and difficult to detect and extinguish. Large fires are a burden on the economy, they threaten ecosystems and, of course, human life and health.

Natural hydrological regimes allow wetlands to perform one of their most important functions – the accumulation and purification of fresh water. The significance of Polesia’s water resources is immense. Feeding major rivers such as the Pripyat or the Dnieper, Polesia’s wetlands provide drinking water for two thirds of the Ukrainian population. If the groundwater level in the marshes drops, it could be catastrophic for millions of people. But local rural communities in Polesia are already experiencing the consequences of systematic wetland drainage. Water levels in people’s wells are falling, and the lack of water for daily needs is evident. Regional and local authorities often try to solve the problem by building artificial reservoirs, but it costs millions of dollars to build and operate them. Experts estimate that the cost of equipping a small artificial reservoir would be enough to rewet all of Polesia’s disturbed wetlands and provide a natural water supply for the region’s inhabitants. There would be no need for artificial reservoirs.

Wetlands provide people with valuable resources that, if managed sustainably, can help to improve the well-being of local people and create new livelihoods and jobs. As noted above, the practice of draining wetlands for agricultural use brings only short-term benefits: within a few years, as yields decline or a peat deposit is developed, the area turns into wasteland. Nowadays, the idea of using the natural resources of Polesia’s wetlands without draining them, or after restoring the water regime, is becoming more common. Here are some examples.

Reeds grow abundantly in both undisturbed and restored wetlands. This plant can be used as a raw material for an environmentally friendly and efficient fuel that can potentially be supplied to small local businesses or power stations. Such an enterprise will be profitable if it serves customers within a radius of seanout 30 kilometres.

The development of local industries for the processing of natural raw materials obtained from Polesia’s wetlands would create new jobs and produce goods with high added value. It would be economically viable and sustainable in the long term, as it focuses on a local renewable resource and doesn’t involve destroying the ecosystem for quick profits.

Wetlands have shaped the lives of local people for centuries and continue to do so today, although this is not always apparent at first glance. The dramatic consequences of the loss of these valuable and remarkable ecosystems are indeed visible. Once upon a time, people had to submit to the forces of nature. Today, we have many tools and technologies to subdue it. But we must be wise enough to use modern means to live in a healthy balance with nature, because we are more dependent on each other than ever before.

Throughout 2024, we have been working hard to prepare all the necessary conditions to start practical work on restoring disturbed wetlands in Ukrainian Polesia. Some time ago, potential restoration sites were identified and the relevant feasibility study developed. Of these areas we’ve prioritized four ones – two Ramsar sites in the Rivnenskyi Strict Nature Reserve and two ones in the Chornobyl Biosphere Reserve. Scientific justifications have been approved for all the sites, and engineering plans’ development will start soon. After its approval, we will be able to start construction work on the ground.

Polesia is one of the largest wilderness areas in Europe. It still contains vast areas of intact nature, multiple and diverse habitats for numerous endangered species and rare biotopes, many of which are hard to find elsewhere on the continent. This vast region has yet to be explored in depth, and field researchers continue to discover new natural sites and objects of high conservation value in Polesia. Some of them, such as primeval forests or the habitats of some endangered species, can never be restored to their original state after being destroyed or disturbed. That is why we pay a lot of attention to giving such natural values a legal protection status, although this is a complicated and time-consuming process that sometimes takes years.

The new management plan for the Prypiacki National Park for the period until 2032 elaborated as part of the project back in 2020 has been adopted. This document sets out long-term goals for the management of the national park and contains complex and scientifically based measures to be taken to ensure the conservation of the most valuable natural objects and sites, biological and landscape diversity of this territory. For example, the new management plan provides for an increase in the total area of the national park and the area of its strictly protected zone, a ban on hunting spring birds in wetlands with a high level of protection, and a ban on hunting wolves in certain areas of the national park. The management plan also requires the restoration of disturbed natural complexes within the Prypiacki National Park. For instance, a scientific justification and a project for the restoration of disturbed wetlands are to be developed. It is important to note that, according to Belarusian legislation, compliance with an adopted management plan is mandatory. Thus, the development and adoption of such a document ensures a strategic and systematic approach to the conservation of a natural area.

Dissemination of knowledge about natural values and nature conservation keeps on being one of the project’s focuses. In the current circumstances, this work is being implemented only via online courses. Last year, our experts prepared and conducted five online courses focusing on invasive species, collection of data on tree species diversity, ecological education, citizen science and ecotrails development. Experts in nature conservation, education and culture, 288 people in total, attended the courses giving a very positive feedback to the teachers.

2024 has seen the continuation of the great systematic work started several years ago. It has also paved the way for a deeper understanding of the nature of Polesia and made practical steps for its conservation and restoration more reasonable and targeted. As we enter the new year, we are looking forward to making new practical steps in protection and restoration of natural areas of Polesia. We hope that our work for the sake of the Polesia’s nature and people will keep bringing new obvious and tangible results.

The word ‘Polesia’ derives from the ancient proto-Slavic noun ‘les’ meaning ‘forest’. No wonder: even now, after centuries of natural and anthropogenic transformations, economic exploitation and urbanization, forests make up a significant share of the region’s area.  

Among the diversity of Polesia’s ecosystems, old-growth forests stand out. There are a number of definitions of this concept, but they are essentially the same: a virgin forest is a forest of natural origin, formed by native species, with a complex age and spatial structure, capable of self-maintenance and self-regulation. The main criteria used to identify virgin forests are usually the presence of old trees, large amounts of dead wood in various stages of decomposition and the absence of economic activity for at least several decades. Of course, in all cases these forests are exceptionally rich in biodiversity, being the places where the rarest and most vulnerable species are concentrated. Old-growth forests perform a range of essential ecosystem functions: shaping weather and climate, purifying and conserving water, storing and sequestering carbon.  

The most important characteristic of old-growth forests is their undisturbed nature. Any economic activity within their boundaries causes significant and often irrevocable disturbance, and sometimes even total destruction. Any form of logging, even the removal of deadwood or individual trees, actually leads to their destruction as old-growth forests. And once destroyed, virgin forests can never be restored, not even over many generations. The only possible mechanism for preserving such forests is a total ban on economic activity. 

The total area of virgin forests in Polesia presumably amounts to several tens of thousands hectares. Interspersed with sparse forests on bogs and open bogs, which are also intact ecosystems, primeval forests form a complex spatial mosaic. There have been several attempts to find the last primeval forests in Polesia, and it is not an easy task. They are usually relatively small and fragmented, and the experts had to examine huge areas of forest affected by human activity in order to find the valuable areas subject to legal protection. Ukrainian environmental legislation provides for the creation of so-called “primeval forest natural monuments” with a total ban on economic activity.  

In 2019-2021, an expedition to identify primeval forests in Ukrainian Polesia was organised as part of our project. During their work in the Rivne region, the specialists were surprised. Studying the documents describing the forest area known as Makove Bog, they expected to find a typical bog pine forest, with trees that were on average less than 110 years old and up to 15 metres high. But when they got there, they found that the trees looked much taller and older. In fact, core analysis showed that some were more than 150 years old. The almost complete absence of human activity and the abundance of dead wood proved that this was a natural, intact old-growth forest covering an area of 260 ha – a really large area for a Polesian primeval forest! Surprisingly, before the expedition, the area had never been explored and legally protected.  

In December 2021, after completing all the necessary bureaucratic procedures, Makove Bog was granted an official protection status, with a total ban on any economic activity, including all kinds of logging, construction of any buildings, including elements of linear infrastructure, etc.  

This case looked like a significant conservation victory, until at the end of 2023 the permit for peat extraction in Makove Bog for the next 20 years was auctioned by the Ukrainian government and bought for nearly $700,000. Unfortunately, this case is not unique in Ukraine: there have been other examples of the sale of permits for peat and amber mining in protected areas. Some of these deals have been cancelled by the Ministry of Environment, but not all.  

Fortunately, the case of Makove Bog was brought to the attention of the specialised environmental prosecution service of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office. They stated that peat extraction in the area of designated virgin forest monument was a serious violation of national environmental legislation, as it would inevitably lead to the destruction of the unique natural object. The environmental prosecutors went to court and defended their position by proving that the use of Makove Bog for mining was illegal, using the high conservation status of the area as their main argument. The court agreed with their arguments and upheld the case. Now the prosecutors are also considering the establishment of protection zones around the nature monument. 

We believe that this case is a significant conservation victory for Polesia’s wilderness, and a sound argument in favor of further identifying rare and valuable habitats and giving them legal protection. As we can see, without this work, unique ecosystems can be irreversibly disturbed or destroyed. And we may never even know it.   

Our reference: more than 100,000 ha of natural areas in Polesia have been legally protected thanks to the efforts of our project.    

A growing human presence in wildlife areas is particularly critical for large carnivores with large home ranges, such as the wolf and Eurasian lynx. Increasing nocturnal behaviour is one of the strategies that allows these animals to avoid risky interactions with humans. This behavioural adaptation mechanism has been described before. However, the new study is the first attempt to analyse the diurnal activity of the two carnivore species in a number of areas that differ in character and intensity of human presence – from areas of intense anthropogenic pressure to those where human activity is highly restricted.   

Understanding the behaviour of large carnivores and the factors that cause them to change their mode of living is important from a number of perspectives. On the one hand, if human disturbance causes carnivores to shift their activity to the nocturnal period, this could affect their interactions with prey, with potentially significant consequences for the ecosystem. On the other hand, in human-dominated landscapes, nocturnal behaviour reduces negative human-animal interactions and thus benefits the conservation of carnivores by enabling their conflict-free coexistence.  

Previous studies have shown that both wolves and lynx are predominantly nocturnal in Europe and have suggested that anthropogenic factors may influence their temporal behaviour. However, no attempt has been made to analyse the diurnal activity of carnivores in the context of a comparison between areas with different levels of anthropogenic pressure. 

The authors of the new study suggested that both wolves and lynx would be more active during the day under conditions of low anthropogenic pressure and the probability of being active at night would rise as human disturbance increased. To test this hypothesis, the researchers analysed images from camera traps deployed at nine sites in six European countries with a gradient of anthropogenic pressure.

The data collected covers several years, from 2014 to 2022, focusing on the period from September to April, when large carnivores are usually monitored. Cameras were deployed along forest roads and trails used both by carnivores and people.  

The analysed data set comprised more than 71,000 independent encounters, including 2,430 of wolves, 934 of lynx, 8,585 of prey species, and 59,408 of humans. The highest rate of human encounter was recorded in the Bavarian Forest National Park, while the lowest was in the Skolivski Beskydy National Park, followed by the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.  

Although they often prey on the same species, wolves and lynx have different hunting strategies. As cursorial predators, wolves rely on pursuit tactics. However, they can also use the stalk and ambush strategy, which is most effective in low light conditions. Wolves’ hunting success is generally highest at twilight, but it is likely that some wolves have improved their hunting success at daytime. In addition, the social behaviour of wolves can also influence their way of life, as they can hunt alone or in packs. As a predominantly solitary, ambush predator, the lynx fits well into the nocturnal-crepuscular niche because darkness allows it to implement its hunting strategy most effectively. 

Areas of restricted human access in Europe are unlikely to expand in the near future. However, populations of large carnivores such as wolves and lynx are increasing and recolonising areas where they were previously extinct. This allows researchers to predict that populations of such species will continue to exhibit predominantly nocturnal behaviour in areas with high human presence, in order to minimise potentially dangerous interactions with humans. Understanding the daily activities of animals will help to develop effective strategies for carnivore conservation and the creation of a landscape of conflict-free coexistence between humans and wildlife.   

If we confine wolves to night because of human disturbance during the day, we can expect different behaviours. If we want to allow the full range of wolf behaviours, or in other words, to allow them to choose when to be active, we must decrease our disturbance in time as well as space. So, the most obvious next steps are to look at how these human disturbances influence other aspects of wolf and lynx biology. For example, is the hunting success lower in more nocturnal populations? What about the size of family groups? These are important questions for finding the balance between human disturbance and the capabilities and persistence of large carnivores in Europe.” 

Smith, Adam & Kasper, Katharina & Lazzeri, Lorenzo & Schulte, Michael & Kudrenko, Svitlana & Say-Sallaz, Elise & Churski, Marcin & Shamovich, Dmitry & Obrizan, Serhii & Domashevsky, Serhii & Korepanova, Kateryna & Bashta, Andriy-Taras & Zhuravchak, Rostyslav & Gahbauer, Martin & Pirga, Bartosz & Fenchuk, Viktar & Kusak, Josip & Ferretti, Francesco & Kuijper, D.P.J. & Heurich, Marco. (2024). Reduced human disturbance increases diurnal activity in wolves, but not Eurasian lynx. Global Ecology and Conservation. e02985. DOI:10.1016/j.gecco.2024.e02985

The cooperation between the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) and protected areas of Ukrainian Polesia has already become a good tradition. FZS has been providing material, technical and financial support to eight national parks and strict nature reserves in the region for several years. In particular, biodiversity monitoring has been carried out in a number of protected areas in Polesia, including using novel methods such as camera trapping and acoustic monitoring. Management plans have been developed for several protected areas in Ukrainian Polesia with the participation of FZS. A number of protected areas also received vehicles and other equipment to make the daily work of the staff easier and more efficient. Following Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, some protected areas received additional funding to provide shelter for internally displaced people.

At the end of July, a team from the Frankfurt Zoological Society took part in another expedition to national nature parks and nature reserves in Polesia to learn about their work and understand the needs of the institutions.

Despite a lack of staff, scarce funds and the war in the country, the conservationists of Ukrainian Polesia are doing their best to protect and promote the local nature and to tackle the various problems and challenges they face in their work. For example, rubbish collection points in the Nobelskyi National Park help to keep the recreation areas clean. Bird watching towers in the Prypiat-Stokhid National Park and the Cheremskyi Strict Nature Reserve attract nature lovers. An ornithological trail above the water in the Poliskyi Strict Nature Reserve is designed for eco-educational purposes and makes it possible to combine recreation and nature observation.

Every encounter with Polesia’s intact wilderness is energising and inspiring. This visit was no exception! The participants of the expedition enjoyed the view of the vast wetlands and forests, the purity and freshness of the lakes. They observed the nesting sites of the rare Greater Spotted Eagle and visited the Juzefin Oak, believed to be one of the oldest trees in Ukraine.

Water is the blood of Polesia, an inseparable part of its precious wetland ecosystems. Unfortunately, Polesia is losing water: this process is still going on due to intensive drainage in the past, especially in the mid-20th century. For example, in the Rivnenskyi Strict Nature Reserve, old drainage systems still influence the hydrological regime of the area and disturb the local ecosystems. Blocking the drainage channels would help to restore the surrounding wetlands to a near-natural state.

In the Poliskyi Strict Nature Reserve and the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve, the consequences of the alteration of the Zholobnytsia and Uzh riverbeds are obvious. In their natural state, Polesian rivers meander through the landscape, which creates favourable conditions for sustainable and harmonious wetland ecosystems. However, this harmony is destroyed when people start to straighten rivers for economic purposes – floodplain ecosystems are disturbed, and mires and peatlands are drained. Reverse transformation of riverbeds is possible, though labour- and resource-consuming.

Ecosystem restoration is now the focus of FZS’s work in Polesia. Some time ago, five drained wetlands were selected for further rewetting. And this summer’s expedition was another opportunity to compare notes with partners, identify priority tasks and needs, synchronise efforts and make the work on the ground more efficient.

On the 24^th of February, 2022, the Russian Federation started its military invasion of Ukraine. And on the 3^rd of March, the first of 19 GPS-tagged Greater Spotted Eagles began arriving in Ukraine from the south, on their annual migration route to breeding grounds in the Belarusian part of Polesia. Meanwhile, military activity was spreading, affecting more and more areas. Although shocked by the events, researchers realised that this was a rare opportunity to obtain information of unique scientific importance. Wars obviously have an impact on wildlife – both directly, via mortality and environmental damage, and in many ways indirectly. But it is always difficult and dangerous to study these processes, let alone obtain real-time data. To date, most such studies have focused on sedentary species living in areas close to military training sites. At the same time, the impact of military conflicts on migratory birds has been poorly understood, despite the fact that the world’s major migratory corridors cross several active military conflict zones.

The Greater Spotted Eagles also showed significant route deviations.In addition, they migrated 20-30% slower and their migration through Ukraine took longer than in previous years (25% longer for females and 50% longer for males). As a result, the birds arrived at their breeding grounds later than usual, and the energetic cost of the migration increased. The authors of this research suppose that the changes in the birds`behavior caused by the military conflict could have sublethal fitness effects on the Greater Spotted Eagles.

The authors of the study cite a female Greater Spotted Eagle nicknamed Denisa as an example of non-typical migration behavior in spring 2022. She was exposed to numerous war events. After witnessing artillery fire and explosions along her route, she moved westwards to avoid crossing active conflict zones. The graph shows Denisa’s migration route and the war events she faced on her way.

Previous studies have shown that numerous and varied anthropogenic disturbances, especially those that are unexpected, can cause severe and prolonged stress that significantly alters the behaviour of wildlife. However, armed conflicts involving shelling and explosions, mining, heavy traffic, human migration, direct habitat destruction, wildfires and many more far exceed any other anthropogenic activity in terms of intensity. Such extreme disturbance can potentially have long-term effects on sensitive Greater Spotted Eagles, causing deterioration in their body condition and affecting the reproductive success of the birds breeding in and around conflict zones. This is particularly important given that their breeding success is comparatively low on average.

The authors of the paper emphasise that human conflicts can have serious direct and indirect effects on migratory species, not only in Ukraine but also in other war zones along globally important migratory routes, which could be detrimental to hundreds of endangered species and millions of migratory birds.

In 1988, the Polesia State Radioecological Reserve was founded in the Belarusian part of the CEZ. In 2016, the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve was established in Ukraine. These scientific and conservation institutions carry out research work and monitoring of wildlife in the territory of the Exclusion Zone.

In the immediate aftermath of the accident, local wildlife was exposed to extremely high levels of radiation. This had a devastating effect on vegetation and wildlife, especially in the immediate vicinity of the destroyed reactor. Today, however, most of the CEZ has nothing in common with a nuclear desert. In fact, under conditions of almost total absence of anthropogenic pressure, wilderness has begun to reclaim areas that were once densely populated and intensively used for agricultural purposes. For instance, censuses have shown that  red deer, roe deer, elk, and wild boar are increasing in the abandoned areas. The introduced Przewalski’s horses and European bison formed stable and growing populations. According to the same research, the number of grey wolves in the CEZ is several times higher than in some uncontaminated nature reserves in Belarus.  Other research supported by our project showed that the Eurasian lynx density in the CEZ is significantly higher than in some other  protected areas. Remarkably, camera traps deployed in the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve have detected the presence of brown bears in the Exclusion Zone.

In the 20th century, the once swampy areas of today’s CEZ were heavily drained for agricultural purposes. Soon after the accident, numerous drainage canals in the Belarusian part of the CEZ were blocked to prevent wildfires and the discharge of contaminated water. And the landscape started to change: mires and forests are gradually replacing farmland. Subsequently, the species’ composition has changed,  too. For example, the abundance of bird species dependent on humans or transformed landscapes decreased, while the globally endangered Greater spotted eagle is recolonising the CEZ. These predators, which depend on intact wetlands and are extremely sensitive to human disturbance during nesting, seem to have found ideal habitat here.

At the same time, some scientists are warning their colleagues against undue optimism and calling for other aspects of the problem to be considered. Some studies show negative long-term effects of low-level radiation on several generations of mammals. Others point out that some bird species have shown a tendency towards more frequent genetic mutations and reproductive difficulties in areas with relatively high levels of contamination. The abundance of various species – from soil invertebrates to mammals – is reported to have decreased in such areas. At the same time, opponents insist that radiation as such is not the only possible explanation for the observed adverse effects. The heated debate continues, but it’s clear that many aspects of post-Chornobyl biology remain to be studied.

The Russian military invasion of Ukraine in 2022 seriously disrupted research work in the CEZ. At the very beginning of the war, Russian troops occupied the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the adjacent areas of the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve. As a result, the reserve’s property and equipment were damaged or destroyed, and the area is still mined. This makes any field work extremely difficult and dangerous. And yet, despite all the difficulties, activities in the CEZ haven’t stopped completely. The staff continue to carry out radiological and wildlife monitoring and are working to prevent the spread of radionuclides from the contaminated areas.

The Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is a unique area in Polesia, where the unintentional ecological experiment has been going on for almost 40 years and is unlikely to end in the foreseeable future. Paid for with the lives and health of thousands of people, numerous personal tragedies and harmful ecological consequences, it gives us a rare opportunity to gain valuable knowledge and reflect on the role of humankind in the environment of our planet.

The Eurasian lynx is widely distributed across the continent, with relatively stable numbers and legal protection in many countries, but is still threatened by anthropogenic factors such as habitat fragmentation and illegal hunting. It is therefore necessary to assess the status of populations across the species’ range in order to coordinate conservation efforts and make them effective. Currently, the Eurasian lynx is being studied unevenly across its range. In many European countries, lynx populations are systematically monitored using widely recognised scientific methods. At the same time, data on lynx abundance and density are scarce in Ukraine and Belarus, despite the fact that the species is protected in these countries. 

In both Belarus and Ukraine, lynx are counted by hunting communities and forestry departments, but these efforts are neither systematic nor scientifically based. Double counting is common, making the estimates inaccurate. As well as provoking conflict between stakeholders, an inaccurate assessment of the status of a species can lead to inappropriate action. For example, the hunting community in Belarus is lobbying for a binary status for the lynx, which would keep the species in the Red Data Book but allow it to be hunted. They argue that lynx numbers are increasing significantly. However, there is no scientific evidence to this statement.  

To determine population densities, Palmero et al. (2023) used the well-established spatial capture-recapture (SCR) method, which incorporates fine-scale spatial information associated with individual detections into population models. They found that the Eurasian lynx densities within the study areas varied from 0.45 to 1.54 individuals/100 km2, with the highest numbers in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. This is similar to other study areas in Europe where the same indices were determined using the same methods. The researchers suggest that the higher density of lynx in the CEZ is due to its large area, abundance of prey and low anthropogenic pressure, while in the Belarusian Pripyat Polesia the population faces lower habitat quality and prey abundance, as well as a higher risk of mortality due to poaching.  

The work carried out and the results obtained are groundbreaking for both Belarus and Ukraine, and serve as a basis for further research on local Eurasian lynx populations and their conservation. It is also an important contribution to understanding the status of the species at the European level. The authors of the study point out that the data obtained will be important for future assessments of the impact of threats on the populations studied. They also suggest that protected areas play an important role in the conservation of the Eurasian lynx. Although large carnivores easily move beyond the boundaries of nature reserves or national parks, these protected areas still serve as refugia for the animals.  

The authors emphasise that consistent, science-based monitoring of the Eurasian lynx, using the same methods across the continent, is key to understanding the species’ status and planning effective conservation measures.