Excursion for the Volyn Regional Ecological and Naturalistic Center

On November 8, 2024, ME “Volynpryrodresurs” of the Volyn Regional Council had the honor of welcoming young environmentalists – members of the “Ecological Local History” group (led by Svitlana Spodaryk) and the “Young Vegetable Growers” group (led by Myroslava Kotyk) of the Volyn Regional Ecological and Naturalistic Center. The excursion to our Amber Cleaning and Sorting Plant left unforgettable impressions, which we hope will inspire them in their future research.

The children had the opportunity to visit different workshops of the Amber Factory in the village of Prylisne, Kamin-Kashyrskyi District, and observe the processes of cleaning and sorting amber. They were able to see unique amber specimens with their own eyes and take memorable photos. The young naturalists were especially fascinated by the collection of inclusions of insects and plants preserved in amber that lived about 40 million years ago.

At the end of the excursion – during a roundtable discussion – the children learned about the history of amber extraction in Volyn, the economic prospects of the enterprise, and the important ecological aspects of its activities. Special attention was given to environmental issues, the problems of illegal amber mining in the region, as well as land reclamation and restoration after open-pit mining.

We express our special gratitude to the Deputy Director for Educational Work of the Center, Valerii Potapchuk, for the gift – a scientific and methodological manual with theses of young researchers who had already visited the enterprise and in their works evaluate the scientific and legislative significance of amber mining not only in Volyn but also in Ukraine as a whole.

We sincerely thank the staff of the Center and its students for their interest in our work. We are always glad to share our experience and knowledge, contributing to the development of environmental awareness among young people.