<
https://theconversation.com/40-years-on-from-the-disaster-why-there-are-foxes-bears-and-bison-again-around-chernobyl-280300>
"In the novel
When There Are Wolves Again by E.J. Swift, the Chernobyl
disaster and its legacy is extrapolated to a near future where natural habitats
are depleted and precarious.
This work of eco-fiction deftly explores issues of possible paths to a future
where animals return to a nature depleted area. In the real world, a parallel
version of this story has been unfolding as nature is thriving around former
nuclear power plants.
This is especially evident at the former Chernobyl plant in Ukraine, where the
absence of human activity has enabled wildlife to flourish despite continuing
radiation, 40 years after the nuclear disaster there.
A 2,600km² exclusion zone was established following the world’s worst civilian
nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986, which released a radioactive cloud
across Europe and led to the evacuation of around 115,000 people from the
surrounding area. Almost immediately, radiation poisoning killed 31 plant
workers and firefighters.
It is 40 years since the Chernobyl disaster that led to the creation of the
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ). Since 1986, it has turned into a thriving,
unintentional wildlife sanctuary and a vast rewilding “laboratory”. The CEZ
prohibits people living there, commercial activities, natural resource
extraction and public access. Now the area is home to flourishing populations
of large mammals.
Populations of wolves, foxes, Eurasian lynx, elk and wild boar have
significantly increased here. Species such as brown bears and European bison,
meanwhile, have returned. This is rewilding in its most extreme form, given the
inability of humans to intervene and it has resulted in several unexpected
effects in the CEZ.
Studies indicate that the lack of human hunting, agriculture and development
has a more positive impact on animal numbers than radiation has a negative one.
Large mammal populations in the Belarusian sector of the zone are comparable to
or higher than those in uncontaminated nature reserves. There is no doubt that
initial radiation caused major damage to flora and fauna, most notably in the
“red forest”, a 10km² area near the nuclear power plant.
This area earned its name after pine trees died and turned red-brown due to
high radiation absorption. Yet long-term studies show that biodiversity has
increased in the absence of humans."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
