Grishko National Botanical Garden in the capital risks losing a significant part of its unique collection of greenhouse plants, since it does not have backup power sources for heat pumps that heat the greenhouse.
This was told in an interview with The Guardian by a senior researcher at the botanical garden, Zhanna Yaroslavskaya.
According to her, a unique collection of tropical and subtropical plants that need a temperature of at least + 10 ° C may die during prolonged power outages. Currently, 4 thousand plants are under threat, for which even cold October nights can become fatal.
Photo: Anastasia Vlasova/The Guardian.
Zhanna Yaroslavska said that the employees of the botanic garden save the plants as best they can with their own strength. In the center of the tropical greenhouse last year, they installed a primitive wood stove in the form of a barrel. 242 tons of fuel pellets were purchased for her with donations. But there is no such furnace in the main greenhouse, so the local plants suffered because of the cold.
Photo: kyiv.novyny.live.
According to a senior researcher, last year heat-loving plants were helped to overwinter by 3 installed heat pumps to maintain the temperature at 20-22 ° S. But electricity is needed for their work, and there are no backup power supplies in case of long-term outages in the botanical garden.
Photo: Anastasia Vlasova/The Guardian.
Employees would really like to buy generators, but the state does not have enough funds for them – they only hope for the help of benefactors. Electricity bills have also increased, and even a cut in workers' wages hasn't helped much.
In June, EcoPolitic reported about the people of Kyiv, who are asking local authorities solar power plants instead of new paving and parks. They consider it more expedient to spend money on preparing the city for the winter period in wartime conditions.
