THE RED FOREST

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As a result of the Chernobyl accident, tens of thousands of hectares of forests have experienced massive radioactive contamination, located in the immediate vicinity of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (Ch.NPP). All of the conifers in the surrounding forest died rapidly and when their needles dried up, their reddish-brown color led to a new name: The Red Forest

The Red Forest is nearly 4,000 acres of pine trees, that were blanketed with radioactive isotopes and microscopic pieces of uranium that roiled from the blazing core of reactor number four over 10 days in April and May of 1986.

However by the pass of time the natural process of radioactive decay has already removed some toxic particles from the environment. About a decade ago, the animal sightings began. Naturalists started to report signs of an apparently remarkable recovery in the ecology of the quarantined territory. 

A 2006 report by the Chernobyl Forum lent scientific weight to the evolving notion that the Exclusion Zone was turning into a haven for wildlife. The report explained that levels of radioactivity in the zone had declined several-hundred-fold and took an optimistic view of the disaster’s aftermath, both for human beings and animals. While there was no denying that some central areas of the zone, including the Red Forest, remained acutely contaminated and potentially lethal, the authors stated that no adverse effects of low-level radiation had been reported in plants or animals in much of the area around the reactor. Rather, the size and diversity of the animal population had actually expanded in the absence of people. “The Exclusion Zone,” the authors concluded, “has paradoxically become a unique sanctuary for biodiversity.”