Chornobyl. Revival. The Black Stork

Denomination - 5 hryvnias

The minting year - 2024

Circulation - 20,000

Metal - nickel silver (СuNi15Zn21)

Mint quality category - special uncirculated

Date of entry into circulation - 26.04.2024

The Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve is an important scientific and ecological wildlife reserve that helps people preserve and study natural processes that are exposed to radiation.

The reserve is now home to many unique species of animals and plants, including the black stork - one of the rarest bird species in Ukraine, which is protected by the state.

Black storks are on Ukraine's list of endangered species.

They are protected under Appendix 2 of the Bonn Convention, Appendix 2 of the Bern Convention and Annex 1 of the Bird's Directive. They are also listed on the IUCN Red List as the LC (least concern) category and in the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA).

In Ukraine, this species nests in Polesia, the Carpathian region, and sometimes in northern forest steppeland.

Black storks are easily recognizable by their long red beaks, black feathers that shine green and red on their upper bodies, and by their white lower parts.

Black storks are rare breeding birds in the Chornobyl Reserve: their nesting population has 24 to 27 pairs.

Preserving the natural environment in the exclusion zone is allowing this species to use the area as a nesting site and thus recover.