Chernobyl’s exclusion zone is a beacon of biodiversity – but it faces new threats from Russia’s invasion

Chernobyl's 30-year exclusion zone has evolved into Europe's largest nature reserve, demonstrating how absence of human industrial activity allows ecosystems to regenerate despite radiation—but Russia's invasion threatens its ecological integrity.

Why this matters → When militarized landscapes override ecological preservation, it reveals the fragility of de facto wilderness protection and the need for legal rights-of-nature frameworks that supersede geopolitical conflict.