Ukrainian scientists race to save endangered plants as war threatens biodiversity

In a basement laboratory in war-torn Ukraine, botanist Larisa Kolder is fighting a different kind of battle—one to preserve her country’s rarest plants from extinction. Working by candlelight during frequent power outages at the National Dendrological Park Sofiyivka in Uman, Kolder and her team are nurturing what may be the last hope for some of Ukraine’s most endangered species.

Their most precious specimens include Moehringia hypanica, a delicate flower found nowhere else on Earth except Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region—an area now under Russian occupation. From just 23 seeds received months ago, only two successfully germinated. But through careful cloning techniques, those two plants have yielded 80 thriving seedlings, representing a crucial genetic lifeline for the species listed in Ukraine’s Red Book of endangered species.

This small victory highlights a larger conservation crisis unfolding across Ukraine, where some of the country’s most valuable biodiversity sites and research facilities have fallen under occupation. Scientists like Kolder are working against time and tremendous odds to preserve Ukraine’s natural heritage, knowing that many irreplaceable ecosystems and the research needed to protect them hang in the balance.

The work at Sofiyivka represents more than scientific preservation—it’s an act of cultural and environmental resistance, ensuring that Ukraine’s unique biological legacy will survive even if the war destroys the natural habitats where these species once thrived.