Rare birds protected: DTEK Odesa Grids installed 50 artificial nests for scops owls

Thermal power generation25 November 2021

In November 2021, DTEK Odesa Grids installed 50 artificial nests for scops owls, a rare owl species listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. The main project goal is to preserve this bird species in Ukraine. New artificial nests for owls were set up in the Bolgradskiy region in the Tuzlov Estuary National Park, as well as along the upper reaches of the Adzhalyk Estuary in the Odesa region.

Scops owls are a rare species of owls listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. There are no more than 2-4 thousand pairs in the country. This number is quickly decreasing every year because of human activity. Scops owls disappear due to deforestation and, as a result, lack of nesting places. Therefore, in 2021, DTEK Grids initiated the installation of 150 artificial nesting sites for these rare birds in Kyiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odesa regions. DTEK Odesa Grids supported this initiative and made 50 new artificial bird nests by its own efforts.

“DTEK is transforming its business in accordance with the New 2030 Strategy, based on ESG principles, values and business responsibility for progress in achieving the sustainable development goals of the UN Global Compact. DTEK Odesa Grids supported the initiative to install artificial nests for some rare species of birds, which is consistent with the UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 15 - the preservation of terrestrial ecosystems. We installed 35 such structures in the Tuzlov Estuary National Natural Park and 15 along the upper reaches of the Adzhalyk Estuary,” says Oleksandr Fomenko, Head of DTEK Odesa Grids.

According to the head of the company, the Distribution System Operator will pursue this initiative. After all, DTEK Odesa Grids is a modern business that focuses not only on achieving business goals, but also contributes to the preservation of the environment and wildlife for the sake of our future.

Let us recall that, DTEK Odesa Grids installed 60 stork nesting platforms as part of the #EnergyWings project in 2021. The company also installed 179 special polymer casings on power lines along the Tiligul estuary. By the end of the year, it will install another 600 such sets. They make the networks safe for birds and protect them from the electric shock, and the company's customers from power outages, which occur when birds collide with power lines.