The cost of war for biodiversity: a potential ecocide in Ukraine

Abstract

[Excerpt] The armed conflict in Ukraine is the first in Europe after decades of peace and is currently taking thousands of human lives while reshaping global geopolitical dynamics. In addition to the humanitarian and economic consequences, the widespread environmental impacts of a conflict at this scale cannot be ignored (Figure 1). Ukraine harbors a great diversity of ecosystems, encompassing mountains (the Carpathians), grasslands (the Pontic–Caspian steppe), large rivers (the Dnieper and the Dniester), and coastal areas (the Azov Sea and the Black Sea), and is home to iconic threatened species such as the European bison (Bison bonasus), the thick shelled river mussel (Unio crassus), and the Crimean rowan (Sorbus tauricola), among many others (Gogaladze et al. 2020). [...]