Today, many countries celebrate World Rivers Day. Rivers are very important to people because they provide us with many important things: food, clean water, building materials, transportation corridors, opportunities for recreation and tourism, and much more. But not only people gravitate to rivers and water bodies. Rivers and especially wetlands are home, kitchen or bedroom for many plants and animals of our planet. More than 40% of species are associated with these natural systems in one way or another. Let’s figure out what the term “biodiversity” means, which you can hear quite often from ecologists, and how we are related to it.

Rewilding goes on even in hard times. More than 22 cubs of various species were born in the rewilding areas in the Danube Delta. The Rewilding Ukraine team is delighted that this year’s breeding season in the region went very well despite the war in Ukraine and drought.

In the circle of life every species plays a role. The wolf in our landscapes is as important as herbivores, plants and other links of the food chains.

The restoration of wildlife populations can play a game-changing role stabilising our climate. Rewilding is the best way to enable such a recovery.

The project “Assessing carbon sequestration and storage by dry grassland ecosystems” was launched, implemented by Rewilding Ukraine together with a team of scientists. In the summer, the first project research took place in the Tarutino steppe and in the Biosphere Reserve “Askania-Nova”.

Today, on International Vulture Awareness Day, ornithologist Mykhailo Nesterenko (Executive Director of Rewilding Ukraine) will talk about these mysterious birds: why they are important in nature, whether we have them in our region, why they decline, and much more.

Scientists conducted research in the Tarutino Steppe using acoustic monitoring devices. This method made it possible to detect rare bats and rodents in the steppe, as well as many bird species.

The first wild baby kulan born in Tarutino steppe! The foal was born in a group of kulans that were released into the wild the last fall. To support the species reintroduction in the area, another group of kulans was released this spring by the team of Rewilding Ukraine after the acclimatization period.

Two and a half years ago, 10 obsolete dams and obstacles built in Soviet times were demolished on the Kogilnik, Kagach and Sarata rivers in the upper reaches of the Sasyk Lagoon. The monitoring of the natural system, which is carried out together with the Danube Biosphere Reserve after the restoration of the watercourse, shows that nature is gradually coming back to life.

On behalf of 1+1 media, one of the largest media holdings in Eastern Europe, and Rewilding Ukraine, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the restoration of natural landscapes, wildlife comeback, and sustainable community development, we appeal to the international wildlife community and relevant organizations, as well as people all over the world who are concerned by the situation.