Nature reserves have turned into deserts in Zaporizhzhia. Photo

Nature reserves have turned into deserts in Zaporizhzhia. Photo facebook.com/ruslan.strelets
Katerina Belousova

The land area in these territories will almost double

Due to the undermining of the Kakhovskaya HPP, the Velikiy Lug and Kamianska Sich national nature parks in Zaporizhzhia are gradually turning into a desert.

This was written by the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets on his Facebook page, stressing that the estimated damages for these territories reached 88 billion hryvnias

facebook.com/ruslan.strelets

He said that according to forecasts, the area of land on the territory of these national parks will increase by thousands of hectares, that is, almost twice. In the national park Veliky Lug on more than 7 thousand hectares, Kamyanska Sich on 5.5 thousand hectares.

According to the calculations of eco-inspectors, damages from the shallowing of Kamianska Sich reached 73 billion hryvnias, and Veliky Lug – 15 billion UAH.

facebook.com/ruslan.strelets

The Strilets emphasized that it will take decades to restore these territories to their natural state, to reproduce the flora and fauna. Corresponding programs are already being developed.

"The world has no right to forgive this ecological terror of the aggressor country. The armed aggression of the Russians is not only losses here and now. These are global challenges for future generations. Recently blooming areas and fertile soils can turn into a desert," he wrote.

facebook.com/ruslan.strelets

Strilets added that this will lead to higher temperatures and deepen the climate crisis, increasing the risk of droughts and extreme weather events. In addition, the detonation of the Kakhovskaya HPP will affect food security. After all, the lives of 400 million people in the countries of the Middle East and Asia depend on Ukrainian supplies.

Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that due to the undermining of the Kakhovskaya HPP wetlands were completely washed away "Big and Small Kuchugura Archipelago" and "Seven Beacons" in Zaporizhzhia. These reservoirs have the status of international importance and are included in the list of Ramsar sites.

As EcoPolitic previously reported, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets said that due to the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP under 160 thousand birds were threatened with death and more than 20 thousand wild animals. "Big water" washes away all biodiversity and can destroy 9 sites of the Emerald Network and 5 Ramsar sites.

Related
Rare sturgeons are returning to the Dnieper River after more than half a century of absence
Rare sturgeons are returning to the Dnieper River after more than half a century of absence

Fish "sense" their historical habitat, and once the barrier posed by the dam is removed, they reintegrate into the ecosystem they once knew

“Dynasty” Cooperative Rivne-style: media claim illegal construction in a protected forest
“Dynasty” Cooperative Rivne-style: media claim illegal construction in a protected forest

Just as with the controversial construction project in Kozin, the start of the full-scale invasion did not prompt Rivne officials to give up their comfortable lifestyle

The EU has updated its list of water pollutants: which substances will now be regulated
The EU has updated its list of water pollutants: which substances will now be regulated

Europe is shifting from assessing the impact of individual harmful substances to monitoring based on the cumulative effect of the compounds present