Because of the war, the Ministry of Education and Science is able to finance only the educational process. So, in the Botanical Garden at the university there was talk of reducing the number of workers, who were already in short supply.
The area of the garden is 27.5 hectares. All these hectares require constant care. There are also 4 greenhouses, which must be maintained in adequate condition. However, at the moment, all the work falls on the shoulders of only 22 employees. And there is enough work: hands are needed for glazing, trimming. It is necessary to prepare land, soil, chop and harvest firewood, dig compost pits, and carry loads.
The situation has become more complicated due to regular power outages: workers of the botanical garden are forced to take turns, to heat the pots in order to somehow maintain the temperature regime, at least in the greenhouses. If the temperature drops in the greenhouse, for example, more than 1,500 taxa of plants, including 900 species of closed soil, will die.
The director of the botanical garden, Anatoly Kabar, emphasizes: “We have a staff shortage. And we need men’s hands. There are works related to high-rise glazing, because over time glass in greenhouses can crack – it breaks, cracks, flies out. We need people who know about repairs, who can prepare and deliver firewood. We have equipment, but no hands. We employ mostly women. Many of them are of retirement or pre-retirement age, many young women workers have husbands at the front, they have children and they cannot work in the garden around the clock.”
The director himself is on duty at night at the furnaces once every 4 days to preserve the unique collections.
And there is something to protect. In total, the botanical garden’s collection of plants includes more than 3,500 species, varieties, forms and varieties. In the exposition greenhouse of the department of tropical and subtropical plants there is a collection of heat-loving species from Africa, South Asia and Australia. There is also a unique collection of palm trees, some of which are over 90 years old.
If you can help the Botanical Garden in any way, please call:
+38095 382 21 30
+38067 366 37 64
