Kyiv, 13 August 2024 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, with financial backing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), has delivered a new shipment of essential equipment to nature reserve institutions in the Polissya region selected with the support of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.

This IT equipment will enable specialists in national parks, nature reserves, and regional landscape parks in Polissya to effectively monitor rare species, including species inhabiting peatlands, and track any other changes within the protected areas of Polissya.

Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi, First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine expressed his gratitude to the partners for the technical support provided.

"This is a significant contribution to the realization of Ukraine's ambitious plans for the restoration and development of the network of protected areas, despite the ongoing challenges of the war," Krasnolutskyi said. "This year, we’ve already established 20 new nature reserve sites of local significance. However, restoring reserves affected by hostilities and ensuring the uninterrupted operation of existing ones remains a key challenge.”

Pavlo Ivanov, Director of the Department of Nature Reserve Fund and Biodiversity at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, conveyed his appreciation to international partners and the project team for their coordinated efforts.

"The provided IT equipment will enable Polissya nature reserve fund staff to work under improved conditions, reaching European standard. We want our nature reserve fund staff to have more tools for successful and coordinated efforts in preserving our natural heritage".

Ievgen Spivakovskyi, Programme Analyst for UNDP’s Energy and Environment Portfolio, highlighted the importance of ongoing support for Ukraine's nature reserve institutions.

“It’s crucial for us to ensure timely support for these institutions, which play a key role in preserving and restoring biodiversity and natural habitats,” Spivakovskyi said. "We hope the new equipment will further enhance the effectiveness of nature reserve operations in Ukraine.”

Recently, a team of UNDP specialists conducted a monitoring mission to one of the nature reserves in Polissya to assess the effectiveness of previously provided equipment, including stationary weather stations and inverter generators. The UNDP experts noted the improvement in the work of the reserve, which became evident just a few months after receiving the equipment. The stationary weather stations now cover a large area of the reserve, providing comprehensive and more accurate data for specialists – particularly in effectively combating forest and peatland fires. The inverter generators significantly help maintain communication during power outages, allowing staff to continue their professional duties without interruption.

The procurement, delivery, and transfer of equipment worth a total of more than UAH 4 million (US $107,081) were carried out by UNDP in Ukraine as part of the UNDP-GEF project “Promoting Sustainable Livestock Management and Ecosystem Conservation in Northern Ukraine.”

This is the second batch of essential equipment that UNDP has delivered to conservation institutions in Polissya. In January of this year, UNDP in Ukraine, with financial support from the GEF, provided stationary weather stations, portable radios, inflatable boats, and inverter generators to the national parks and nature reserves in Polissya, which had a total value of nearly UAH 1.5 million ($38,155). This equipment supports meteorological observations, species identification, and overall biodiversity monitoring, while also ensuring the smooth and uninterrupted operation of the national parks, nature reserves, and regional landscape parks in Polissya.

Background:

UNDP’s "Promoting Sustainable Livestock Management and Ecosystem Conservation in Northern Ukraine" project, funded by the Global Environment Facility, will run from 2022 to 2026 across seven Ukrainian regions: Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia, and Chernihiv. The project focuses on restoring degraded peatlands, promoting sustainable livestock and crop production, implementing paludiculture (peatland management) practices, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from drained peatlands, and encouraging the development of agricultural cooperatives. Additionally, it aims to balance agricultural and environmental conservation goals through integrated land use plans, and bolster community capacities to attract funding for ecosystem conservation and restoration. 

Media enquiries: Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Head of Communications; e-mail: yuliia.samus@undp.org