Construction of fortifications, destruction of sewage collectors and large-scale recreational exploitation cause the greatest damage to the ecology of Crimea  

Souvenirs from Red Book plants, deforestation, sea pollution and classified fires. The NGO CrimeaSOS held a briefing where it presented an environmental study “Environment of Crimea: changes and losses in the period of full-scale war”.   

The discussion about the ecological situation in the occupied Crimea was joined by an expert on nature protection territories, the head of the Board of the NGO “Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group” and a member of the UWEC Work Group Oleksii Vasyliuk, an environmental journalist of Online media solutions “Rubryka” and “EcoRubric”, an expert and journalist of the UWEC Work Group Viktoriia Hubareva and a researcher of impact of hostilities on wildlife, expert of the “Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group” Viktor Parkhomenko.  

“In the entire known history of Crimea, the condition of the environment has never been so bad, and nature has never suffered so much from negative anthropogenic factors. In particular, this was caused by a number of changes introduced by the occupation authorities: military exercises in nature conservation areas, the construction of the Kerch bridge and the Tavrida highway, in connection with which total deforestation was carried out”, –Oleksii Vasyliuk noted.    

Among other environmental threats to the natural environment of the peninsula, the expert singled out sea pollution. Viktor Parkhomenko said that militarization has a negative effect on the marine environment: the sinking of ships, the release of toxic missile fuel and a large number of shells into the sea. After all, the ammunition that ended up in the water contains an explosive substance with heavy metals: nickel, lead, tin, zinc and others. Experts also presented satellite images of oil slicks in the Black Sea, the length of which starts from two kilometres.   

Viktor emphasized that the ecosystem of the peninsula is also affected by fires, however, most of them are silenced due to fires at military facilities during missile launches or the operation of air defence systems. In addition, Crimean landscapes suffer from the construction of fortifications.   

“With the total length of the trenches identified by us, which is 71.5 kilometres, the area of ​​the affected dwellings within the territories of the Emerald Network is 1.43 square kilometres. In most cases, these are the coast, coastal steppes, and salt marshes. The coastal strip along the seas is one of the most valuable territories, important for the protection of species and biotypes”, –the expert added.   

Oleksii Vasyliuk singled out the main factors affecting the depletion of natural resources, in particular, deforestation, soil salinization, and water and air pollution. Thus, only in 2022, employees of the occupying Ministry of Natural Resources of Crimea made decisions for the demolition of more than 30,000 green spaces.  

During the occupation of Crimea, trade in subsoil and biological resources of the peninsula was also legalized. In addition, it became possible to rent natural areas for hunting and recreation, as well as obtain licenses for shooting animals via a smartphone.   

Viktoriia Hubareva noted that the Red Book plants of Crimea are also at risk. She emphasized that those species found in Crimea and listed in the Red Book of Ukraine cannot be listed in the Red Book of the russian federation, therefore, after the occupation of the peninsula, they lost their protected status. Some of them are on the verge of extinction today because the occupiers, for example, make souvenirs of such plants.  

Even large-scale construction causes damage to nature.  

“Over the past two years, more than 2 million square meters of residential buildings were built in Crimea with russian state funds. This suggests that the development of these residential complexes should be done wisely, since a building needs a whole infrastructure around it. However, it doesn’t happen. Uncontrolled total development causes enormous damage to the environment of Crimea in the long term”, –Viktoriia emphasized.   

The prospects of Crimea’s water supply were also discussed at the briefing. Oleksii assured that it is possible to implement it entirely thanks to local water resources.   

“The years of occupation made us understand that Crimea can be adapted to the absence of the North Crimean Canal. This means that after the de-occupation, we should not panic and think about how to pump water from the Dnipro into the North Crimean Canal. On the contrary, we should build aqueducts that would supplement local resources and obtain a climate-adapted modern Crimea that would have the required amount of water”, – he noted.  

We would like to remind you that earlier CrimeaSOS presented the study “Environment of Crimea: changes and losses during the occupation” Part I. Destruction of wildlife. Find out the details of the new study at the link.