FZS supports 19 protected areas (national parks, biosphere reserves) in Ukraine – this is our largest country program in Europe. Many of these protected areas are located in Central Europe’s most important and largest natural landscapes and are part of our world heritage. In the north of Ukraine, Polesia holds one of Central Europe’s largest natural river floodplain landscapes. While the Carpathians in southwestern Ukraine harbor primary forests at a scale rare in Europe today.

The war in Ukraine has drastically changed how our team in Europe functions. Some staff left the country and now continue their work from abroad. Most of the FZS Ukraine team, however, remain on-site working tirelessly to face the new challenges the current situation poses.

Normally the focus of our work is on acquiring better equipment like vehicles and uniforms, investing in management and training of protected area staff, and more practically, building, renovating, or constructing infrastructure like ranger posts. Over the past few months, the team shifted their focus to help the protected areas handle the influx of people seeking shelter within, for example, protected area administration buildings in the Carpathian Mountains in southwestern Ukraine.

Now, as the number of Internally Displaced People housed in protected areas has significantly decreased, we are able to relaunch and continue aspects of our core conservation work. Nevertheless, we will remain in a mode that will allow us to rapidly react and scale up our emergency support should the humanitarian situation in the region worsen again.

The protected areas we work with need our ongoing partnership now more than ever as they face being largely cut off from other sources of funding. Since May, FZS has stepped in to cover operational costs for 13 protected areas in the Carpathians and six in Polesia. This includes fuel, utilities, communication fees, office supplies, vehicle spares, and other basic needs, allowing parks to continue their work despite temporarily reduced state budgets. Infrastructure repairs are also urgently needed before the winter, especially for parks that continue to host Internally Displaced People.