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During the evacuation years, many were forced to leave their homes, the most emotional part of the Chernobyl tragedy.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/voyages.eurasia.undp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Les_UNDP_D1_044-1024x683.jpg\")
All photos: Siarhiej Leskiec \/ UNDP Belarus<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n Maria is one of those people. She continues to live in her\nvillage of Navaselki, the last inhabited place at the very edge of the\nBelarusian part of the exclusion zone, located only 50 km from the reactor. Once\nhome to 1,300 and a thriving collective farm, today only 156 are left, and most\nvillagers are in 70s, 80s and 90s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even after her husband passed away in 2001, Maria refused to\nmove away. During winters she goes to her relatives in a neighboring town, but\nevery spring she returns to her native village and works on her land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nDecontamination activities here have helped clean the soil.\nVillagers grow fruits and vegetables, breed chickens and pigs and are supplied\nby a mobile shop that comes three times a week. Like others living in affected\nareas, they undergo regular health screenings. But at their ages, most do not\ncare about radiation levels. They are more frustrated about not being able to\ncross into the exclusion zone for berries, mushrooms and game like they used\nto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to the accident, southeast parts of Belarus were some\nof the most rapidly developing districts in the country – with booming oil and\nchemical industries, along with some of the best agriculture in the former\nSoviet Union, heavy machinery production and tourism. But in the years that\nfollowed the catastrophe, agriculture and industry collapsed, exports dropped\nto almost zero and tourism ceased. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take Brahin district, once famous for its high delicious\nbutter, regularly exported to the Russian Imperial capital of Saint Petersburg.\nThe local milk and meat industry of the town almost disappeared after local\npastures were hit by radiation. Now, more than 30 years later, sisters Tatiana\nand Elena Simonavy became a part of Brahin\u2019s communal efforts to eliminate\nstigma and revive the local milk and dairy products farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nThe family has lived in their village for generations, which\nthankfully didn\u2019t require evacuation. Elena worked in a local collective farm,\nwhile Tatiana went to a nearby town for culinary college before returning home\nwith her young daughter to help start their dairy business. They sell their\nfresh, raw milk to a local dealer but hope to someday go private and produce\ntheir own cheese and curd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sisters regularly send milk from their cows to be tested\nfor radiation. Laboratory tests confirm that theirs and the districts\u2019 other\ndairy and agricultural products are safe to eat. Much of this is due to\ninnovative cultivation and decontamination measures put into practice by the\ngovernment and locals. The contaminated soils were massively treated with\ncalcium which helped lock and remove radioactive cesium in the soil. Radioactive\nlevels decreased, the contaminated layer went deep underground and the upper\nlayers of soil are safe for crops. Many farmers today also use greenhouses for\ngrowing greens and vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 12 percent of the population in Belarus currently\nlive in affected territories, and for over three decades these districts have\nsuffered from the stigma associated with possible contamination. For those\nliving in the region, the challenge on their minds is how to provide good\nliving for those who remained and how to keep young people from leaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, the main development goal of the area is not just\nto recover, but to build \u201ca new economy\u201d. The community has found the answer in\nvarious avenues \u2013 heritage and culture tourism, information and communications\ntechnology, green economy, organic farming and restoring ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nThe only people who can enter the exclusion zone today are the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve, foresters and researchers who live and work there in shifts, to diminish the impact of radiation on their health. They govern checkpoints, test materials from the affected areas for radiation levels and conduct research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nThe Reserve\u2019s highly-prized scientific community\nhas accumulated unique knowledge on the impact of radiation on wildlife and how\nnature recovers after a disaster of this type. Some also tend\nto beehives and work on the reserve\u2019s horse farms and bison feeding grounds.\nThe animal work serves both research (studying the impact of radiation on\nagriculture) and commercial aims (leading to exports). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nThese sites are now included on tourist routes since the\nReserve has been opened for visitors. Tourist are transported in 4WDs and short\nstops are made near the main attraction points – abandoned villages, old\nbuildings, the river bank with half-sunken tugboats and bison feeding grounds.\nThey can also see the incredible amount of wildlife that has flourished in the\nabsence of human development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike Ukraine, who in 2010 opened Pripyat and Chernobyl towns, as well as its part of the exclusion zone for tourists, Belarus didn\u2019t rush to commercialize its part of the Reserve, but Chernobyl tourism can help earn money, especially after the success of the HBO hit show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nTourism and agrotourism remain the most attractive option for starting business both for young and old in the affected districts. The folk heritage that has been miraculously preserved within local communities is increasingly popular among young people who see its potential in attracting visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nBut tourism has to be properly\nsupported, regulated and provide form in terms of infrastructure and services. In\nNovember 2018, the country opened part of the Polesie State\nRadioecological Reserve to managed tourist groups, and is thinking about\nturning it into an international scientific hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the future, realizing the economic potential of the affected territories will depend upon stronger cooperation with the private sector \u2013 which UNDP is attempting to broker through social impact investment<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the beginning of the decade there has been a\nconsiderable increase in economic activity\u200a\u2014\u200a37,000 small- and medium-sized\nbusinesses now operate in the areas directly affected by the disaster, up from\nonly 2,375 in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nHopefully, these opportunities will bring young people back\nto these districts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But many locals already see the shift as a signal to the rest of the country that they are still alive and kicking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UNDP Belarus, with EU support and in close cooperation with local authorities, has been leading a transition from emergency relief and humanitarian assistance to capacity-building and sustainable development. By providing support to more than 200 initiatives, UNDP and partners<\/a> help local communities get back on their feet and start taking on the challenges of today and tomorrow.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photos: Siarhiej Leskiec \/ UNDP Belarus<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster in 1986 sent five percent of the radioactive reactor\u2019s core into the atmosphere and upwind into Belarus, Ukraine and parts of Russia \u2013 contaminating over 150,000 sq km of the region. The radioactive material spread over a 30 km radius from the plant, leading to the creation of an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/voyages.eurasia.undp.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/voyages.eurasia.undp.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/voyages.eurasia.undp.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voyages.eurasia.undp.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voyages.eurasia.undp.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/voyages.eurasia.undp.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":680,"href":"https:\/\/voyages.eurasia.undp.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638\/revisions\/680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/voyages.eurasia.undp.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voyages.eurasia.undp.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/voyages.eurasia.undp.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}