The Solution

Saving Polesia and promoting sustainable growth

Polesia is a breathtaking wetland wilderness area and must be protected from development – there is so much to see and discover! In order to boost local and regional economies we must:

Invest in existing rail infrastructure

Transport of goods using the E40 waterway would be slower, more expensive, more polluting, and less reliable than electric rail. Therefore, construction of the E40 waterway makes no sense. To meet trading needs, governments should instead modernise border crossings, increase train capacities and speed, and improve logistics infrastructure to handle cross-border trade.

A railway network connecting the Black Sea and the Baltic exists already:

Data sources © pg-webstudio.de

Read the factsheet “No economic case for new waterway through Polesia”.

Strengthen local economies through nature-based tourism

The meandering rivers, unique biodiversity and cultural heritage present huge potential for nature-based tourism in Polesia. Numbers have been steadily increasing year-on-year, and the region is particularly popular with birdwatchers. With the right roadmap, nature-based tourism has massive potential to underpin sustainable, low-impact, and profitable tourism in the region. Challenges include the coordination of stakeholders, and securing the investment needed to develop opportunities. Successful experiences elsewhere in Europe, such as Soomaa National Park in Estonia, serve as inspiring examples.

Read the factsheet “Polesia’s enormous potential for nature-based tourism”.

“We envision a completely different development scenario for the Polesia and Chernobyl zone in the coming years … a new world heritage site that will bring vastly more wealth to the country in the future than industrial development and the transformation of the main aorta of the region into a canal.”