At the beginning of March, the fighting took place on one third of the territories that belong to Nature Reserves of Ukraine.
This was reported on Saturday, 19th March, on the website of Ukrainian parliament, citing the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.
“The enemy is fighting on the territory of 900 protected areas (almost 5,000 square miles). And that is one third of the entire territory of Ukrainian nature reserves,” says the statement.
Areas along the coasts of the Azov and Black Seas, and along Ukrainian northern and eastern borders are being particularly damaged.
Some of the national parks are in the zones of humanitarian catastrophe. It has become impossible to fund certain protected areas–for instance, national parks Azov-Syvash and Dzharylhak, a nature reserve Yelanets Steppe, and a biosphere reserve Askania-Nova. The last one has a huge number of wild animals, some of the species are unique and rare worldwide.
Zoos in Ukraine also face financial troubles.
There is a report on how Mykolaiv zoo is doing after being shelled by the Russians. It is closed at the moment, but the workers keep taking care of the animals.
Almost 200 areas (11,000 square miles) of the Emerald network in Ukraine, the European network of protected areas, are under the risk of complete destruction.