Sustainable Development of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

The purpose of this project was to consider options for the sustainable development of lands in Ukraine abandoned after the 1986 Chernobyl accident. The project carried out stakeholder consultations on re-use of some abandoned agricultural lands and on future development of water management systems in the abandoned areas. It also developed a method to determine whether lands could be re-used for agriculture.

A new protocol was developed to determine whether agricultural land could be re-used. A new water management strategy was developed to better manage the extensive network of drains, pumping systems and dykes within the Exclusion Zone.