27 April 2004 - Participants of ULRMC's National Meeting on Biological Indicators for National Use were hosted to an all-day field trip to explore agricultural systems on the example of Kyiv Oblast. The field trip, organized by BINU project manager Dr. Vasyl Prydatko, was led by Academician Olexander Tarariko of the Institute of Agroecology and Biotechnology, Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences and by Dr. Vasyl Davydchuk of the Institute of Geography, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Participants included representatives from Ukraine (Kyiv, Simferopol, Vinnytsya), Netherlands and the United States. Also, in attendance was Dr. Tonnie Tekelenburg of the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), in the Netherlands.

During the tour, participants saw a variety of modern agricultural production systems, erosion control measures, and natural ecosystem remnants near Ukrayinka and Trypillya about 30 kilometers south of Kyiv. A discussion on how the region has been farmed for several thousand years was of great interest, and put the current situation into proper context.

At the conclusion of the trip, the participants toured the Soil Science Museum at National Agrarian University where they learned about the diversity and importance of soils in representative agricultural regions of Ukraine, as well as got introduced to the works of the university scientists. As is widely known, Ukraine has some of the most fertile soils in the world. This not only benefits agricultural production, but also enhances the land's potential for wild biodiversity.

Ukraine is one of four countries participating in the BINU project, funded by UNEP-GEF and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC). As implementer of the two-year BINU project in Ukraine, ULRMC will also be organizing the International BINU Workshop in June in the Black Sea resort city of Yalta.