At the beginning of November, the work on restoring the connection of the Staronekrasovsky floodplains in Ukraine with the Danube River was completed. For the first time in many years, the Hromadsky canal has become flowing again, which will bring Staronekrasovsky floodplains back to life. The work, carried out by the Izmail Department of Water Management, Rewilding Ukraine and the Center for Regional Studies, is the first step towards restoring the Lung, Safyany and Katlabuh lakes.

A group of steppe marmots, translocated to the Tarutino Steppe in 2020, are acclimatising well to their new home. Their release into the wild, which is part of a long-term reintroduction programme, is helping to create a more ecologically complex steppe environment.

On September 25, the unique Tarutino steppe hosted the ethno-eco festival “Tarutino steppe” organized by Rewilding Ukraine and its partners Borodino Territorial Community and the Center for Ethnographic, Rural Tourism and Family Recreation “Frumushika-Nova”. The guests of the festival ate deliciously, had fun and got acquainted with the culture and nature of the region.

Two batches of three young eagle owls have just been released in the Danube Delta rewilding area in Ukraine. Their reintroduction, which is part of a long-term programme to establish a viable population, will enhance local food webs.

On September 25, the ethno-eco festival “Tarutino steppe” will take place in the Tarutyn steppe in the Odesa region, where you will be swirled by the whirlpool of national rites, authentic songs, and dances of the peoples of Bessarabia. The highlight of the festival will be the eco-zone and eco-activities, which will reveal to you the nature of the unique Tarutyn steppe in all its beauty.

Both Rewilding Europe and the rewilding movement have come a long way since 2011. With Rewilding Europe’s tenth anniversary celebrations kicking off on June 29, now is the time to reflect on progress and look to the future.

In early June, two artificial breeding platforms for Dalmatian pelicans were installed in the Danube Biosphere Reserve in Ukraine as part of the “Pelican Way of LIFE” project.

In the Ukrainian Danube Delta, the opening of a new photography hide and the ongoing restoration of forest landscape are enhancing the area’s tourism appeal.

During the fourth Southeastern European Pelican Census simultaneous measures were taken in many European countries to count two globally endangered species – Great white and Dalmatian pelicans. In Ukraine the counts took place on May 15-21 as part of the “Pelican Way of LIFE” project, being implemented in our country by Rewilding Ukraine in cooperation with the Danube Biosphere Reserve (DBR).

Measures to restore damaged areas of the Tarutino Steppe are part of a vision to establish a wilder local landscape governed more by natural processes.