Silent victims: Poisoned land, decimated ecosystems

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has destroyed much of Ukraine’s 10 million hectares of forest. Greenhouse gas emissions are to the tune of 230mn tonnes of CO2 equivalent — pollution from about 50mn cars driving for a whole year — since the full-scale invasion began Feb 24, 2022. Israel’s years of bombing Palestine have cratered once-arable land where Palestinians grew grapefruit, oranges, watermelon, eggplants, almonds and olives. Per one study, there were 54 conflicts in 2021 worldwide — each with long-term consequences for the environment, on flora, fauna, livestock.

A deaf ear

Environmental legacy of war is seldom talked about — toxic earth, military scrap, barren lands, contaminated water bodies, poisoned marine ecosystems and large tracts of land in a state of upheaval. Damage in Ukraine alone is estimated at over $70bn and counting, per various global estimates. There’s air pollution from smouldering fires, and bombs and missiles, there’s toxins and metals deep in earth, natural water bodies and aqua life are killed by oil and chemicals. Loss of habitat chases local wildlife out, their numbers dwindle — but the extent of biodiversity loss in forests has never been gauged.

A blind spot

One can go on estimating the cost of damage and reconstruction but when it comes to air, soil and water, there is little reparation. Forests cannot grow back till soil has healed, and that can take at least 15-20 years. Oil, heavy metals, chemicals, excavations of tunnels and trenches — it could be a war on soil. Water bodies once in decay rarely regenerate. Endangered species die out. In Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, for example, most large animal populations were reduced by 90% or more during its 1977-1992 civil conflict, a rare case where loss to wildlife was estimated. Military actions fragment ecosystems. The most ignored aspect of war is the noise. Constant noise of warfare disrupts animal behaviour, migration routes, and breeding cycles — wildlife are forced to abandon their territories entirely. This just makes them more vulnerable.

Weaponising ecology

Ecocide , from the Greek oïkos (house) and Latin caedere (to kill), essentially means the action of killing the earth. Historian David Zierler defines ecocide as the deliberate destruction of ecology and the environment as a weapon of war. When dams are hit to trigger floods in enemy areas, it is the environment that is weaponised. It is nothing new. In the Vietnam war, along borders with Cambodia and Laos’s thick jungles, US used a herbicide called Agent Orange that poisoned over 5mn acres and turned vibrant forests into lifeless wastelands. Scientists called it ‘ecocide’ — a war on nature itself, with dangerous consequences for both land and life. The US simply walked away — leaving behind a deformed land.

Time to pay

Environmental war crimes get short shrift. Till now. Kyiv has accused Moscow of brutal ecocide following the destruction of the Khakovka dam in June 2023. Kyiv is the first state under attack that wants ecocide added to crimes over which the ICC has jurisdiction. Will the world respond? Probably not.

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