WEBVTT - Russia’s war on Ukraine: The environmental damage is ‘ecocide’

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to AC N A podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>There is a scene in the recent Blockbuster movie Oppenheimer

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<v Speaker 1>where the team that successfully made the atomic bomb cheers

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<v Speaker 1>its leader Robert J Oppenheimer.

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<v Speaker 1>But all the atomic bomb creator can see through the

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<v Speaker 1>smiles are the faces of those seared by the explosion.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a master class in movie making.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's also a lesson about the realities of war

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<v Speaker 1>in today's world. Ukraine's ongoing battle against Russia has taken

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<v Speaker 1>a steep toll on its people. The human cost has

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<v Speaker 1>been well documented, thousands dead, millions displaced and many lives

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<v Speaker 1>completely torn apart.

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<v Speaker 1>But other victims of this war don't usually make it

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<v Speaker 1>into the headlines.

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<v Speaker 1>They are the wild animals whose habitats are destroyed,

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<v Speaker 1>the vibrant wetlands that have been stripped bare

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<v Speaker 1>and the rivers that are now poisoned because of heavy

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<v Speaker 1>chemicals and machinery, oil.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Julie Yu. And on this special episode of the

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<v Speaker 1>climate conversations, I want to talk about a different casualty

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<v Speaker 1>of war,

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<v Speaker 1>the environment.

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<v Speaker 1>Alexei Marshak is a conservation biologist at the Ukrainian Nature

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<v Speaker 1>Conservation Group.

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<v Speaker 1>He's among many Ukrainian scientists who have risked safety to

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<v Speaker 1>document the impact of war on the country's natural biodiversity.

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<v Speaker 2>We don't go to the area where active war actions

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<v Speaker 2>take place because it is dangerous and no one will

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<v Speaker 2>allow us as civilians to go there. But some of

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<v Speaker 2>our experts already work on the occupied territories. They continue

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<v Speaker 2>their research in terms of biodiversity. They continue to make

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<v Speaker 2>records on different representatives of biodiversity, especially rare species,

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<v Speaker 1>dangerous conditions have made it harder for him to survey

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<v Speaker 1>threatened species.

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<v Speaker 1>But Alexi says collecting data now may provide evidence for

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<v Speaker 1>Russia's environmental crimes which he calls ecocide.

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<v Speaker 2>If you are talking about all the animals that died,

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<v Speaker 2>that failed to for example, breed during breeding season that

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<v Speaker 2>no more have safe migration roads, et cetera. This is

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<v Speaker 2>all eco site. We are collecting the evidences of these

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<v Speaker 2>war crimes against nature. Everything we can do is collecting

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<v Speaker 2>the evidences.

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<v Speaker 1>He explains in detail what this eco site really looks

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<v Speaker 1>like

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<v Speaker 2>if we call about direct impact, it is physical destruction

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<v Speaker 2>of wildlife, physical destruction of natural habitats when constructing any

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<v Speaker 2>military buildings, digging trenches. And

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<v Speaker 2>on this is pollution with different chemicals from projectiles from bombs,

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<v Speaker 2>from different shellings, which has also a long term deteriorating

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<v Speaker 2>effect on the nature. I mean polluting the soil, then

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<v Speaker 2>polluting the plants, then the fauna,

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<v Speaker 1>the earth. He says struggles to cope with the influx

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<v Speaker 1>of heavy metals and toxic chemicals. You can imagine millions

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<v Speaker 1>of gallons of oil from incinerated tanks seeping into the ground.

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<v Speaker 1>The estimate is that one third of Ukrainian soil is

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<v Speaker 1>contaminated forests and national parks spanning nearly 2.5 million hectares

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<v Speaker 1>have been damaged.

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<v Speaker 1>Some 160 nature reserves are at risk of degradation and

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<v Speaker 1>destruction

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<v Speaker 1>and nearly 1500 plant and animal species faced a threat

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<v Speaker 1>of extinction.

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<v Speaker 1>Water sources have also been contaminated due to attacks and

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<v Speaker 1>industrial facilities.

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<v Speaker 2>These are heavy metals which are pretty widespread among different

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<v Speaker 2>types of artillery projectiles, different types of bombs. A lot

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<v Speaker 2>of chemicals from destroyed uh machinery from tanks from marine ships, oil,

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<v Speaker 2>I mean gasoline, a lot of substances that usually kills

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<v Speaker 2>everything when they appear in the water, for example. And

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<v Speaker 2>of course, different chemical parts of explosives.

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<v Speaker 2>We are the most mined area in the world right now.

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<v Speaker 2>Even comparing to the second world war, even to comparing

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<v Speaker 2>with the for example, different Balkan conflicts,

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<v Speaker 1>even the Majestic Dnipro River which serves as a vital

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<v Speaker 1>source of water transport, power and food bears the scars

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<v Speaker 1>of the recent bombing of the Kharkov Dam in southern Ukraine,

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<v Speaker 1>homes and farmlands were destroyed. Some 20,000 animals including endemic

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<v Speaker 1>species were possibly killed when the dam was destroyed.

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<v Speaker 1>Ukraine's Environment Minister warned that mines on earth by the

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<v Speaker 1>flooding could wash on to other European countries shores.

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<v Speaker 1>Then there is a nuclear fear. Ukraine has 15 nuclear

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<v Speaker 1>reactors and one of its four power plants has been

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<v Speaker 1>the site of intense battle damage to any of these units.

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<v Speaker 1>Or nuclear waste storage sites could have a devastating impact.

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<v Speaker 1>Rebuilding war torn. Ukraine is also expected to be carbon intensive,

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<v Speaker 1>generating nearly 50 million tons of emissions almost equivalent to

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<v Speaker 1>Singapore's annual carbon emissions.

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<v Speaker 1>The very sustenance of Ukraine is threatened too as vast

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<v Speaker 1>tracts of agricultural land lay Barret and unusable. A stark

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<v Speaker 1>reminder of the prolonged aftermath of war.

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<v Speaker 2>I should mention that now, more than 30% of Ukrainian

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<v Speaker 2>agricultural areas are no more accessible and cannot be used

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<v Speaker 2>in agriculture at all for many, many years, for decades.

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<v Speaker 1>But dedicated scientists such as Alexei Mary are not about

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<v Speaker 1>to give up. They work relentlessly to gather data and

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<v Speaker 1>document a tool seeking to bring those responsible to justice.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not clear just yet when this war will end

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<v Speaker 1>and how much time effort and money will be needed

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<v Speaker 1>to rebuild Ukraine

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<v Speaker 1>the wounds of the environment, however, will take several lifetimes

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<v Speaker 1>to heal.

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<v Speaker 2>I think about 200 years or something like that when

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<v Speaker 2>people are leaving these areas, activity of humanity is very

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<v Speaker 2>limited on these territories. The nature itself will recover quite fast.

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<v Speaker 1>Alexi believes that the international community could be a beacon

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<v Speaker 1>of hope. The creation of protected nature reserves and war

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<v Speaker 1>torn territories would also provide a sanctuary for wildlife to thrive.

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<v Speaker 1>Once again,

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<v Speaker 2>what the international community can do for us is to

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<v Speaker 2>support our projects, to support our scientists and environmentalists and

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<v Speaker 2>giving us ability to use the most modern technologies, technologies

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<v Speaker 2>of assessing the biodiversity, state, technologies of monitoring and so on.

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<v Speaker 1>My conversation with Alexi serves as a reminder that nature

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<v Speaker 1>is not left out of the chaos and destruction of

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<v Speaker 1>war

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<v Speaker 1>on an already fragile planet. There are profound consequences of

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<v Speaker 1>conflict that may take decades to erase.

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<v Speaker 1>But in the face of adversity, environmentalists such as Alexi

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<v Speaker 1>continue to soldier on recording and planning for the long

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<v Speaker 1>road to recovery.

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<v Speaker 1>I hope you enjoyed a rather different episode of the

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<v Speaker 1>climate conversations. Please do leave a comment or review of

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<v Speaker 1>this episode on Apple podcast or Spotify. I love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. My name is Julie Yu and the

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<v Speaker 1>team behind this podcast is Jacqueline Chen Tiffany Yang, Joanne

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<v Speaker 1>Chen Sn and Christina Robert.