News
River flow affects high-energy Great Snipe lekking
23. February 2022
New study shows link between seasonal floods and Great Snipe lekking condition. The long-term research conducted at Turov Meadows in Belarus found that river water level impacts the ability of the birds to meet the high energy demands of their breeding competition. A finding that reinforces the need to maintain natural river flow in Polesia.
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Achieving protected status for Polesia, Europe’s largest wetland wilderness
26. January 2022
Following important steps taken in Belarus and Ukraine to protect mires at the heart of Polesia, conservationists want to see the region awarded UNESCO status
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A New National Park for Polesia: Pushcha Radzivila
17. January 2022
On January 3rd this year, the President of Ukraine signed a decree officially creating the new Pushcha Radzivila National Park. The Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds (USPB), as part of the Polesia – Wilderness without borders project, played a significant role in the creation of the new national park. The park covers 24,265 hectares in Ukraine’s Rivne region. Together with protected…
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Wins for Polesia in 2021
22. December 2021
Over 10,000 hectares of the landscape gained better protection. Camera traps show the incredible wildlife of wilderness areas. Local communities come together to protect Polesia. Read on for more highlights from the past year.
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Endangered eagle migration patterns key to their conservation
5. December 2021
The Greater Spotted Eagle is in trouble. Almost extinct in western Europe, Polesia is a stronghold for the endangered birds. Roughly 16% of the continent’s population is found in Belarus and 4% in Ukraine. Yet, even in Polesia’s vast network of forests and wetlands, numbers are dropping. Only in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has the population increased in the last 20 years. Why are we seeing…
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The Search for European Mink in Almany
2. July 2021
Last month, three biologists working with the Polesia – Wilderness without borders project set off into the vast Almany Mires. Their mission: to search for a particularly elusive species – the critically endangered European mink (Mustela lutreola). The species has not been sighted in Belarus for 20 years. Some suspect them to have been completely wiped out in the country, but if there is one…
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The Next Generation of Protected Areas in Polesia
24. May 2021
A 10,000 hectare expansion of the Almany Mires Nature Reserve in the Belarusian part of Polesia was announced by the Republic’s Council of Ministries on March 3rd 2021. The reserve now spans over 104,000 hectares (about the size of Hong Kong) – securing Europe’s largest intact transition mire and crucial habitat for globally threatened wildlife. Together with protected areas across the border in…
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Almany Mires Reserve Expanded
5. March 2021
A 10,000 hectare expansion of the Almany Mires Nature Reserve in the Belarusian part of Polesia was announced by the Republic’s Council of Ministries on March 3rd 2021. The reserve now spans over 104,000 hectares (about the size of Hong Kong) – securing Europe’s largest intact transition mire and crucial habitat for globally threatened wildlife. Together with protected areas across the border in…
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Polesia: a vast wetland wilderness
2. February 2021
The world's wetlands are disappearing three times faster than its forests, with 90% lost since the 1700s. These vanishing ecosystems play a crucial role in storing and cleaning water, mitigating flood damage, sustaining biodiversity, providing us with food and storing huge amounts of carbon.
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Guardians of Polesia
15. January 2021
In Belarus and Ukraine local communities from Polesia are coming together to volunteer for the protection of the incredible wilderness they call home. Local ‘volunteer caretakers’ are donating their time to protect Polesia’s reserves and key wildlife areas. The ‘Polesia – Wilderness without borders’ Project (referred to as Wild Polesia hereafter), with support from the Endangered Landscapes…
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