pollution

In 2017, the villagers of Hovtashen in the Ararat region of Armenia started noticing a strange phenomenon. The white storks they lived so closely with were not so white anymore – covered by a thick black substance, they were struggling to fly. As researchers and conservationists received the first alarm, they raced to help these iconic birds. Six years later, as we visit the Ararat plain, we see these contaminated storks with our own eyes and learn that putting an end to this disaster is still far away. But where does the substance come from and how can the contamination be stopped?