Supporting nature’s powers of self-healing

Text: Christina Pfänder

The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has left its mark – not only in towns and cities and on people, but also on nature: forests have been burnt or landmined, and entire regions destroyed. Last year, the DAAD-funded project Fields of Conflict – A Discourse on Socio-Ecological Forest Restoration in Times of War and Multiple Crises explored how Ukraine’s forests could be regenerated in the long term following the end of the war. “In our strategies we look at the complex interplay of ecosystems, local communities and economic aspects,” explains project leader Pierre Ibisch, DAAD alumnus and professor of social ecology of forest ecosystems at Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE). Economic interests go beyond the commercial timber industry: “Though the avail­ability of firewood is especially important for rural populations, non-wood products such as mushrooms and berries also play a significant role.”

Since excursions to Ukraine are currently not possible, the project participants – students and young researchers from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Germany and Ukraine – travelled to the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. Whilst there, they researched intact, unspoilt forests and engaged in exchange with local experts about forest preservation and management.

Study trips to Brandenburg and workshops in Eberswalde shed light on the consequences of forest fires, mining, intensive farming, monocultures and climate change impacts – challenges that Ukraine is facing, too. “In various forests and at sites hit by forest fires, we were able to show nature’s self-healing powers,” explains Ibisch. “Natural processes, including for example the planting of what are known as pioneer trees, are effective and inexpensive methods of restoring woodlands and are ­also to be used in the future to regenerate severely damaged forests in Ukraine.” Besides contamin­ation by landmines and munitions, however, there are also some very different challenges: in the area around the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor, for example, forest fires sparked by gunfire have remobilised radioactive particles. “The extent to which people and nature in Ukraine are suffering from the war on so many levels is really tragic,” says Pierre Ibisch. “Ultimately, the ecological damage and ­resulting ecocide are part of Russia’s warfare strat­egy.” This is just one of the reasons why Ibisch hopes that the war will end soon – and that the ­reconstruction processes discussed in the project can get underway. —