The UNEP mission is in Ukraine. Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strilets wrote this on his Facebook page.

“For a month, experts will be working on assessing the environmental impact of the Kakhovka HPP dam blast. They will prepare recommendations for the restoration of protected areas affected by the flooding. This is the result of our agreements with UN Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen. Thank you, Inger, for speeding up the bureaucratic procedures so that we can hold initial consultations with your team’s experts in Kyiv at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources,” said Ruslan Strilets.

According to the Minister, the most important thing for the Ministry is to develop practical steps that will become part of the plan to restore the areas affected by the terrorist attack on the Kakhovka HPP dam.

In addition to UNEP experts on biodiversity-related disasters and conflicts, the expert group includes scientists from international governmental organisations and conventions who will work remotely:

• U.S. Geological Survey;
• Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands;
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
• Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation;
• German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection;
• Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations;
• Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency;
• Experts of the Berne Convention, Ramsar Convention, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), AEWA, and Water Convention.

“This cooperation will be fruitful. Each of us understands that to remain silent about a disaster today means to legalise it tomorrow in any part of the world. That is why our country is fighting not only with weapons in its hands. Today, Ukraine is the mouthpiece of the meanings that are the basis for the fight for a healthy environment around the world,’ said Ruslan Strilets.