According to FAO estimates, 33% of agricultural Ukrainian lands have already undergone significant degradation, which is 13% more than before the Russian Federation’s full-scale war against Ukraine. The remaining lands are under threat of degradation.
Such data was shared by Olena Korogod, president of the “Organic Ukraine” organization during the conference “National challenge: Degradation of soils or restoration of their fertility?”
“Over the past 130 years, Ukrainian lands have lost 30% of humus, and Ukraine’s level of arable land remains one of the highest in the world – 53.9%. For comparison, in Poland this indicator is at the level of 36.5%, in Germany – 34.1%, in the USA – 17.5%, in China – 12%”, Olena Korogod reminded.
UAH 200 billion damage
According to NAAS estimates, economic losses from soil degradation before the start of the war amounted to about UAH 40 billion per year. And only in the first three months of the Russian Federation’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the damage to the Ukrainian environment reached UAH 200 billion.
More than 200,000 hectares of territory are contaminated by mines, shells, and ammunition fragments due to military operations. There is data that it takes one day to clear 1 hectare. So this process will be long and resource-consuming.
At the same time, soil degradation is a global problem. 25% of the entire land surface of the world is degraded soils. Every year, the planet loses 24 billion tons of fertile soil. If this trend continues, by 2050, 95% of the Earth’s surface will be degraded soils.
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