Recurrent wildfires in Ukraine exert severe impacts on the environment, human health and security as well as damage to private and public assets. From 2007 to 2020, the frequency of large wildfires has increased and reached a level that has not occurred previously. The period during April-October 2020 was the worst in modern Ukrainian history for the occurrence of catastrophic fires, e.g. in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (67 000 ha), Zhytomyr oblast (43 000 ha), Lugansk oblast (35 000 ha) and Kharkiv oblast (8 000 ha). In Ukraine there is the additional problem of open burning, mainly burning agriculture residues, which covers two million hectares (ha) annually. State forestry enterprises who are responsible for the management of 71% of the Ukrainian forests (7.6 million ha)and agricultural holdings are also responsible for the management of 41.3 million ha of croplands. The remaining forest users manage forest areas of 3.1 million ha within reserves and national nature parks. This article presents a brief overview of the problem of forest fires as well as of fires in other landscapes in Ukraine, and includes a critical reviews of the current wildfire management system and a description of the main features of the national wildfire management strategy. It also highlights the results of a survey of numerous stakeholders conducted on landscape fires in Ukraine. Based on the review of global and regional experiences, as well as existing fire risks in Ukraine, recommendations were developed for implementing an integrated landscape level national fire management approach.

Forest education plays a crucial role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and promoting sustainable forest management amidst global challenges. However, existing programs struggle to keep pace with rapidly evolving crises and uncertainties that contribute to deforestation and forest degradation. To tackle these challenges, integrating innovative approaches into forest education is essential. This paper showcases the transformative use of a strategy game, MineSet, as an innovative teaching method for integrated forest management. The game facilitates deeply engaging experiences that provide unique insights into complex issues like deforestation. By assuming various stakeholder roles, graduate students actively engage with and confront the intricate tradeoffs inherent in forest management. This interactive and immersive role-play game not only fosters critical thinking skills but also promotes collaborative problem-solving, making MineSet a highly innovative and attractive tool in forest education. The importance of extended debriefings, facilitation throughout the game, and ongoing discussions should not be underestimated, as they establish meaningful and necessary connections between in-game events, validated educational material, and published research outcomes. Moreover, the game equips students with practical experience and a comprehensive understanding of landscape approaches, using the Congo Basin as a case study. We emphasize the potential of innovative forest education to foster sustainability, stimulate critical thinking, resolve conflicts, and prevent costly forest losses.

Natural ecosystems face significant pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss, and increasing socio-economic and political stressors—all of which are exacerbated by military conflict. This paper focuses on Ukraine and examines the root causes of disturbances in the country’s forest socio-ecological systems (SES), as well as the impacts of the ongoing war, to identify recovery pathways. Using a multi-method approach, we assess factors affecting Ukraine’s forest SES and identify three key recovery pathways: (1) an economic focus through forest use for low-carbon recovery, including timber for reconstruction and small-scale energy production; (2) a “close-to-nature and close-to-people” approach, leveraging digital tools and innovations for climate-resilient recovery; and (3) anticipatory governance and socio-ecological innovation. Relying on a single pathway risks long-term vulnerability. We highlight that integrating recovery pathways creates synergies. Coordinated actions within Ukraine and from international actors are essential to enable a recovery aligned with “build back better” principles. Our findings offer valuable insights for Ukraine and other conflict-affected regions. Graphical abstract

Semi-empirical estimation of log taper using stem profile equations | Andrii Bilous, Viktor Myroniuk, Viktor Svynchuk, Oleksandr Soshenskyi, Oleksandr Lesnik, Yaroslav Kovbasa | Agricultural Journals

In the last decade, the problem of fires in the natural landscapes of Ukraine has aggravated due to climate change, changes in society and land use. Catastrophic wildfires in 2014, 2015 and 2020 indicate that Ukraine is now in the new climate conditions in terms of the level of fire danger. It is clear that in such conditions departmental forest and landscapes fire protection system is incapable of control over the situation. Such situation requires an analysis of the effectiveness of the existing forest and landscapes fire protection system and its improvement in accordance with new risks and challenges. Based on the methods of RS with the help of modern software products, it was established that in Ukraine over the past 19 years wildfires have damaged 38.4 million hectares of natural areas, an average of 2.0 million hectares annually. The most severe problem of wildfires is observed in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, where forest cover is low, part of agricultural lands is large (over 70%), which indicates, first of all, a problem of agricultural fires. In comparison to fires (burnings) on agricultural lands, the problem of forest fires does not seem very significant. Yet, taking into the account especially large forest fires in Ukraine during 2007 – 2020 that have led to human deaths, destruction of residential buildings, manufacture and social infrastructure, which has resulted in enormous ecological and economical losses, it is clear that forest fire protection system requires deep analysis and appropriate decisions for its improvement. The article is devoted to the study of fires in the natural landscapes of Ukraine, analysis of the current forest and landscapes fire protection system and ways to improve it. The first step towards establishing a modern fire management system in Ukraine should aim at establishing a reliable national fire statistics system, which would highlight the real problem and include all type of landscape fires - in open lands and in forests. The scientific article represents analyzes the landscape fires for the period 2001-2019 according to the global products of the MODIS system. Also in the article, performed the analysis of the components of the current fire management system and the main shortcomings and key recommendations for its improvement are formulated.

Recent studies show an increase in the number and frequency of catastrophic forest fires in the world since the end of the XX century. Such forest fires often will cause essential economic and environmental losses, human casualties. According to forecasts, in Ukraine due to climate change fire weather danger will steadily grow: temperatures rising, changing seasons duration, prolongation of the vegetative and fire season, increasing the frequency and intensity of heat waves and natural hydrometeorological phenomenon, change of local water patterns. Several catastrophic fires in the natural landscapes of Ukraine occurred in 2020 in different regions of the country. Wildfires in Zhytomyr, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions were the largest and most catastrophic in Ukrainian history, with human casualties, large economic losses, environmental and social negative consequences. The main parameters of such catastrophic fires weather conditions, long period without precipitation, high air temperature and wind gusts of 15-25 m/s. There are two main critical periods in Ukraine, in terms of frequency and risk of forest fires. The first, spring, from the melting snow to the regeneration of a new green cover. The second period lasts from the last month of summer into the autumn rainy season when agricultural vegetation dries up and people and farmers use fires for remnants of vegetation clearing in the fields. The catastrophic landscape fires of 2020 indicate the gaps of the current fire management system on natural and cultural landscapes in Ukraine to effectively respond to large fires. The current system needs enhancement in accordance with new conditions and challenges. The manuscript presented information about catastrophic fires that occurred in the natural landscapes of Ukraine in 2020 based on available official information, remote sensing data and data from the geoportal "Landscape Fires of Ukraine" (wildfires.org.ua). Also in the article, performed the analysis of the components of the current fire management system and the main shortcomings and key recommendations for its improvement are formulated.