News - Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group

Environmental groups slate EU plans to weaken nature safeguards in the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia

News26th June 2024

The European Commission must revise ill-advised plans to undermine nature protection rules for renewable energy projects – including hydropower and biomass – under the Energy Community Treaty (1), 40 civil society organisations today underlined in a joint letter. Following changes to the EU Renewable Energy Directive last year that weakened environmental safeguards for renewables, the…

What will we lose if we rebuild the Kakhovka HPS?

News7th June 2024

Today is the anniversary of Kakhovka tragedy. Last year, on the 6 th June the Russian troops carried out another terrorist attack blowing up the dam of the Kakhovka HPS. The war crime of the invaders led to catastrophic consequences for people and nature. However, there is a flip side of this disaster. The Velykyi…

What should be done in order not to lose the Velykyi Luh again?

News29th May 2024

The flood of 2024 played an important role in the restoration of a new ecosystem at the bottom of the former reservoir. However, the further recovery of the Dnipro floodplain will not happen by itself because the riverbed of the Dnipro is regulated by a cascade of reservoirs upstream. Formerly, hundreds of bird species lived…

We have conducted our “Environmental Communication” training courses

News23rd May 2024

We are sure that professional communication strengthens the activities of conservationists. So, we decided to hold an event where representatives of the nature reserve fund would be able to learn the development of communication strategies, implementation of information campaigns and work with changing the behavior of target audiences. We and our Czech partners delivered several…

Does nature help to restore the Velykyi Luh?

News25th March 2024

Velykyi Luh (that means a great meadow) was artificially flooded by the communist authorities during the construction of the Kakhovka Reservoir in the 1950s. This is one of the most important natural and historical landscapes of Ukraine. After the Russians blew up the Kakhovka HPS dam, this territory ceased to be a reservoir. Currently, many…

Cargo ship loaded with €40m of Russian conflict timber seized in Germany

News22nd March 2024

Earthsight has learned that a vessel carrying some €40 million of Russian conflict timber has been seized by German Customs. The ship, 23000-tonne Atlantic Navigator II, was en-route from St Petersburg in Russia to the US east coast when it developed a fault and was forced to dock at Rostock port on the German Baltic…

New sanctuaries have been established in Odessa region on our application!

News5th March 2024

The Odesa Regional Council has announced the establishment of 3 local landscape sanctuaries. Last year we submitted the application for their creation. The total area of the sanctuaries is over 635 hectares. Congratulations to everyone involved in this joyful achievement! There are some words about sanctuaries: Landscape sanctuary “Kolo Gleya” (45 hectares). The protected area…

Ministry of Environment presented our application for biodiversity protection “Biodiversity Viewer”!

News1st March 2024

Not only biologists need information about the distribution of biological species. This knowledge is necessary for the establishment of protected areas, planning of forestry activities, preparation of EIA reports, and urban planning documentation. However, it is not easy to find such data in the public domain. Their largest hub is the global biodiversity database GBIF,…

European Parliament adopted the EU Nature Restoration Law

News29th February 2024

It was a final vote. The Law should be approved by the Council of the European Union in the nearest future. What targets does this new European law set? – 30% of natural habitats in poor condition must be restored by 2030, 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050. – Natural habitats in good…

We call on the US Government to include a ban on timber imports from Russia in the new sanctions package!

News22nd February 2024

Leading Ukrainian environmental NGOs have appealed to the US Government to include a ban on timber imports from Russia in the new sanctions package announced by President Biden. The text of the letter is below: Expansion of US sanctions to Russian timber imports Dear Under-Secretary Nelson We, leading Ukrainian environmental NGOs, are writing to…