Red Forest
| Red Forest Ukrainian: Рудий ліс Russian: Рыжий лес |
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Red Forest
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| Geography | |
| Location |
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone,  Ukraine
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| Coordinates | 51°22′48″N 30°02′57″E / 51.38011°N 30.04908°ECoordinates: 51°22′48″N 30°02′57″E / 51.38011°N 30.04908°E |
| Status | State controlled, restricted access |
| Visitation | With permission only |
| Governing body | State Agency of Ukraine on the Exclusion Zone Management |
| Ecology | |
| Disturbance | Large amounts of radioactive contamination |
The Red Forest (Ukrainian: Рудий ліс, Rudyi lis Russian: Рыжий лес Ryzhy les, literally "ginger-color forest") is the 10-square-kilometre (4 sq mi) area surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant within the Exclusion Zone. The name "Red Forest" comes from the ginger-brown colour of the pine trees after they died following the absorption of high levels of radiation from the Chernobyl accident on 26 April 1986. In the post-disaster cleanup operations, the Red Forest was bulldozed and buried in "waste graveyards". The site of the Red Forest remains one of the most contaminated areas in the world today.
The Red Forest is located in the zone of alienation; this area received the highest doses of radiation from the Chernobyl accident and the resulting clouds of smoke and dust, heavily polluted with radiation. The trees died from this radiation. The explosion and fire at the Chernobyl No. 4 reactor contaminated the soil, water and atmosphere with radioactive material equivalent to that of 20 times the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In the post-disaster cleanup operations, a majority of the pine trees were bulldozed and buried in trenches by the "liquidators". The trenches were then covered with a thick carpet of sand and planted with pine saplings. Many fear that as the trees decay, radioactive contaminants will leach into the ground water. People have evacuated the contaminated zone around the Red Forest.
As humans were evacuated from the area in 1986, animals moved in despite the radiation. The flora and fauna of the Red Forest have been dramatically affected by the accident. It seems that the biodiversity of the Red Forest has increased in the years following the disaster. There are reports of some stunted plants in the area. Wild boar multiplied eightfold between 1986 and 1988.
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Wikipedia