In 2025, an extremely important ecological technical assistance project of the European Union “Protection of biodiversity of the cross-border territories of Ukraine and Poland from invasive populations of borscht (Heracleum)” was launched in Lviv Region. The initiative is implemented as part of the Interreg NEXT Poland-Ukraine 2021-2027 Program and will last from June 2025 to the end of May 2027. At the final meeting of the partners, the main partner on behalf of the Lviv Agrarian Chamber, head Ihor Vuytsyk, emphasized the importance of the project for the border areas. He noted that most of the purchases for nine communities have already been made, which will allow strengthening the technical capacity of their utility companies in the fight against borschivna. A joint international conference was also organized, and recommendations were developed regarding a unified methodology for controlling borscht populations in different landscape conditions of the Polish-Ukrainian border. These recommendations are based on the experience of Poland and Ukraine, as well as on laboratory and field studies planned in the ZeroHeracleum project. At the same time, active information work is being conducted among communities.

Partners of the project spoke: Oksana Ovchinnikova from Lviv National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology named after S. Z. Gzhitskyi – project manager. She reported on the work already done and outlined the next steps. Marie Curie-Skłodowska University (Lublin, Poland) was represented by Anna Rysiak. She reported that this year it was possible to purchase part of the equipment, to start experiments on sheep and cattle grazing, and also to take samples of borschivna in the relevant territories in Poland.     The meeting was also attended by the University of Natural Sciences in Lublin and the Lublin Agrarian Chamber, which confirmed their readiness for active cooperation in the next stages of project implementation.

       The project is of strategic importance for the preservation of biodiversity and the development of cross-border territories. It is aimed not only at the fight against invasive species, but also at the formation of a new ecological culture, strengthening of partnership between communities, scientists and authorities of Ukraine and Poland.

Source. Lviv Agrarian Chamber.