(24-30 November)
The terrorist state (Russia) is compensating for its failures on the battlefield with brutality, attacking Ukraine's critical infrastructure and turning winter into a weapon against the Ukrainian people and the environment.
24 November marked nine months since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During this time, experts from the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine have recorded 2,263 instances of environmental damage. Of these, 562 cases have been referred to law enforcement agencies. Crimes against the environment know no borders; they affect other countries as well.
Over the past 9 months, hostilities have affected 3 million hectares of Ukrainian forest area. 450,000 hectares of forest are in the combat zone of the occupation. Since 24 February, 900 nature reserve fund sites covering an area of 1.24 million hectares have been affected. The damage caused to the environment is already estimated at 1.419 billion hryvnias. Ukraine has developed 7 methodologies registered with the Ministry of Justice for determining environmental damage in various spheres, which will help calculate losses and receive compensation.
“Russia is the most significant modern-day environmental terrorist. Russia must pay for every piece of destroyed land, every drop of polluted water, and every burnt tree. Russia must pay the Ukrainian people and the international community for this,” commented Ruslan Strilets (Руслан Стрілець), Ukraine's Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources.
Armed conflicts are increasingly threatening the implementation of strategies to combat criminal activities directed against wildlife, as well as conservation programmes and other efforts to combat the illegal trade in wild animals and plants.
At the conclusion of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Ukrainian delegation issued a statement drawing attention to violations of CITES rules due to Russian military aggression.
“Russia has caused an ecocide of all living creatures in Ukraine. The war is destroying the habitats of thousands of wild species. Due to the Russian army's artillery and missile attacks, many representatives of endangered species have died or been injured in zoos and other institutions,” explained First Deputy Minister Ruslan Hrechanik (Руслан Гречаник).
The Black Sea and the Sea of Azov
From 28 November to 2 December, the 8th Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area (ACCOBAMS) was held in Malta.
Representatives of the participating countries discussed the consequences of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and heard a joint statement from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
“Since the beginning of the war, the conservation of cetaceans has become one of the most pressing nature conservation issues, as dolphins of various species are literally being 'blinded' by the sonars of Russian submarines and ships, which prevents them from feeding normally. Not to mention the mass mortality, which is a real problem. More than 100 dead dolphin carcasses were found in a six-kilometre strip of the coastline, which is only a fraction of the total damage,” stated the joint announcement from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The attention of the international community is necessary to develop and coordinate a concrete action plan with foreign partners, to introduce the latest monitoring systems, and for the potential attraction of investment to establish a rehabilitation centre based at the Tuzlivski Lymany National Nature Park. It is planned that animals injured as a result of Russian aggression will be rehabilitated there.
Before the war, female Black Sea cetaceans gave birth once every 2-3 years; with the increase in the number of animal deaths, the recovery of dolphin populations will take more than 10-12 years. This is just one aspect of why the issue of rehabilitating Black Sea cetaceans is so urgent.