In the Chernobyl Radiation-Ecological Biosphere Reserve, experts of the Danube-Carpathian Program have identified several hundred hectares of forests that meet the legislative “quasi-primaeval” and “natural” forests criteria.
Another good news: areas of these high nature value forests in the Reserve might be much larger. In the course of the survey, the Danube-Carpathian Programme experts also identified other potentially valuable sites that need further studies.
The forests of the Chernobyl Biosphere Reserve are areas where very intense forestry was conducted a few decades ago. Now the area is returning to the wild – the number of wildlife is actively increasing, and the forest becomes wilder. Homes, villages and even the town of Pripyat are overgrown with forests and become even wildlife hotspots. The level of radioactive contamination slowly decreases.
