Save Polesia 
The Ukrainian Minister of Environment, Roman Abramovsky, has stated that “the Ministry will insist on Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessments” being carried out before work on the E40 waterway moves forward. Abramovsky made this statement on Facebook following a meeting with a group of environmental activists and NGOs, held at the Ministry of … Read more
The Polish Society for the Protection of Birds, or OTOP, has just released the winners of their ‘River Theme’ photo competition. Running from July to November, the competition called on locals and visitors to submit photographs of the rivers of the Polish part of Polesia. This covered the Vistula from the estuary to Dęblin, the … Read more
An article released in the Guardian today highlights the serious lack of proper risk assessments for the proposed E40 waterway. As yet, a strategic environmental assessment has not been undertaken for the 2000km-long, mega-infrastructure project spanning Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. Despite this, dredging as part of its construction has already been launched in Ukraine’s Chernobyl exclusion zone. While in Poland the construction of the Siarzewo Dam on the Vistula – one of more than 13 planned as … Read more
A panel of 25 experts identified 15 top emerging issues of concern for global biodiversity conservation in 2021. The planned construction of the E40 waterway through Polesia is one of them. The annual review paper ‘A 2021 Horizon Scan of Emerging Global Biological Conservation Issues’ is published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution. From a long … Read more
As of today, people across the globe can watch a new film about Polesia on an innovative, interactive streaming platform – the Waterbear Network. The documentary ‘Europe’s Secret Eden: Polesia’ features spectacular footage of this wetland wilderness, and provides insights into the efforts of dedicated conservationists from the international coalitions Save Polesia and Wild Polesia. … Read more
The brand-new documentary ‘The great extinction of species’ reports on the problems of, and solutions to biodiversity loss. Leading scientists, conservations and economists discuss this issue of global concern – not only on a local, but also on a national and global scale. As part of this story, the German-language ARD film shows impressive footage of Polesia, referred to as the Amazon on the doorstep of Europe. … Read more
Unacceptably high costs and risks associated with the E40 waterway, yet the programme is moving forward. The costs as well as the risks associated with the planned E40 waterway are unacceptably high – according to an expert economic assessment conducted by three leading business associations of Belarus. The study’s authors analysed the 2015 E40 waterway … Read more
Satellite images show evidence that between July and October 2020 the Pripyat, one of Europe’s most pristine rivers, has been dredged at at least seven sites in Ukraine. All of them lie within the Chernobyl exclusion zone – the most contaminated area of the world. Five sites are even located within a distance of ten … Read more
In Ukraine, dredging of the Pripyat River as part of the E40 waterway construction has been launched at the eight sites planned for this year. This work is being carried out as part of the restoration of a bilateral waterway between Ukraine and Belarus, and as the first steps of the much larger E40 project. Five of the eight sites lie only a few kilometres from the remains of Chernobyl’s infamous Reactor 4, where the remnants of the world’s largest nuclear catastrophe lie hidden in the muddy riverbed. This work proceeded on the basis of incomplete analysis of radiation levels and without any detailed studies having taken place as required by Ukrainian law.
28 million people could be exposed to increased radiation risk if dredging proceeds The limited liability company ‘SOBI’ proudly announced that they started to dredge the Pripyat river as part of the construction of the E40 waterway. The works take place within the Chernobyl exclusion zone – the most contaminated area of the world – … Read more