Chernobyl: Disaster or Salutary Lesson

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/radioactive-wolves/full-episode/7190/

Last year Nature aired an episode that thoroughly intrigued me. The program discussed how the meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant had impacted wildlife. Quite to the contrary of what might be expected, the accident seems to have benefited nearly every species present.

Background Information: On April 26, 1985 the Chernobyl nuclear power plant suffered a catastrophic meltdown. As a result, nearly 1100 square miles of land were be abandoned. Much of this area was once a vast wetland, but had since fallen to the progress of man in the form of dams, dikes, and irrigation canals. Farmland had been valued far above preservation of natural ecosystems.

With the total abandonment of these areas by humans, wildlife were allowed to reclaim the land. Wolves, once persecuted nearly to eradication, returned to rule the land. Beavers, bison, deer, peregrine falcons, white-tailed eagles, and many other species also began to flourish in the absence of humans. Inadvertently, the area around Chernobyl had become the worlds largest research site for what would happen if people were removed from the land, and the results were promising. Even with the constant exposure to radiation, wildlife populations were thriving.

What is yet more promising is the governments willingness to assist in the research. Native species, such as the horse and bison, were reintroduced in an effort to recreate natural species assemblages.

This research gives me hope for the future. Hope that much of the damage caused by humanity is reversible. Hope that we have not yet completely doomed the world's biodiversity. Hope that we can preserve all creatures, from the wolf down to the deer mouse, if only we can bring about an environmental revolution.

This past weekend, at the Southeastern Ecological and Evolution Conference, it was commonly stated that future conservation must be based on triage, thus letting many species (and ecosystems) slip away, only to be remembered in the history books. Chernobyl has taught us that, with significant change/effort, we can preserve more species than ever thought possible.