Land wounded by war: scientists will tell what to do with it
6 May 08:49
More than 600,000 craters from shells and other explosive objects, thousands of hectares of arable land affected by the war. This is the scope of a study conducted by the Ukrainian Research Society in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. This was reported by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
Scientists used a comprehensive approach in their work: analysis of high-precision satellite data and on-site soil sampling.
What are the results of the study in Mykolaiv region?
In Mykolaiv region, the Ukrainian Society of Researchers surveyed 980,440 hectares of the areas that suffered the most damage – excluding land in the 40-kilometer buffer zone, which occupies a small portion in the south of the region.
Scientists have found more than 306,000 craters from shells and rockets ranging in diameter from 0.5 to 50 meters, and the volume of displaced soil amounted to more than 612,000 m3. More than 2,334 hectares of soil were bombarded by explosions, and more than 6,000 more were compacted due to the movement of heavy military equipment. The area of potentially contaminated land may reach 18.8 thousand hectares. During the on-site survey, 138 samples were taken to determine the content of heavy metals and the agrochemical characteristics of the soil itself.
What the study found in Kherson region
In the Kherson region, scientists worked on the de-occupied right bank, covering Beryslav and Kherson districts, and surveyed 263,860 hectares of land. Here, compared to Mykolaiv region, a much higher density of craters was recorded and a larger area of land was bombed and compacted.
In Kherson region, 311.7 thousand craters with diameters of 0.5 to 22.4 meters were found, and the volume of soil displaced by the explosions amounted to 1.6 million cubic meters. In total, more than 3.4 thousand hectares of land in the surveyed area were bombed, and 7.3 thousand hectares were compacted. Almost 27 thousand hectares of soil may be contaminated by explosions. Scientists took 90 samples to determine the content of heavy metals and agrochemical parameters of the soil itself.
How the research results will be used
In June, the Society of Researchers of Ukraine plans to present a monetary estimate of the damage caused to the agricultural sector due to soil loss in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.
The results obtained by the researchers will form the basis for determining the environmental potential of the territories, which is calculated by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the Humanitarian Demining Center to prioritize areas for humanitarian demining.
As of the beginning of 2024, 156,000 square kilometers of Ukraine’s territory were potentially contaminated with explosive remnants of war due to Russian aggression.
Ukraine will have to restore huge areas of land
Oleh Nivievsky, head of the Center for Food and Land Use Research at the Kyiv School of Economics, notes that in Ukraine, which has a third of the world’s black soil, the war is literally tearing up the soil.
The expert outlined the main factors of soil damage.
First, according to Oleh Nivievsky, it is the “explosive” destruction of soil, when explosions mix soil layers. The top half meter of soil is the most fertile and it is this layer that suffers the most from explosions. The mixing of layers destroys microflora, changes the structure and reduces fertility.
To add to this:
– Soil compaction by heavy military equipment.
– Chemical contamination with heavy metals (cadmium, copper, zinc) and fuel residues.
– Destruction of forest belts – natural protection against erosion and wind.
How much can land restoration cost?
Wageningen University experts estimate that the cost of restoring agricultural land will be at least $20 billion, which is about 15% of pre-war GDP. According to Oleh Nivievsky, as far as we can understand, this estimate includes the cost of demining and reclamation, i.e., the actual restoration of the soil and its return to production.
The World Bank estimates the priority needs for reclamation at $1.1 billion, and the cost of demining all the land, according to the World Bank, will cost $30 billion, of which about $22 billion will be required to demine agricultural land. And it will take at least 10 years.
