Sunday, September 03, 2006
Refuge among the land mines
The most ecologically significant land on the Korean Peninsula is not a nature reserve or World Heritage site, but instead a green corridor strewn with land mines. The heavily militarized DMZ between North and South Korea has been relatively undisturbed by the intensive land use and environmental degradation that has taken place elsewhere in both Koreas since 1953, and wildlife and recovering habitats flourish here as nowhere else in the region. This is a remarkable and unintended consequence of the military standoff that divides the Peninsula.
If American law applied, peace in Korea might violate the Endangered Species Act.
Read the whole thing.
1 Comments:
By 
wretchardthecat, at
Tue Sep 05, 07:59:00 PM:
Martin Cruz Smith recently wrote an Arkady Renko thriller based around the exclusion zone in Chernobyl, which has in large part reverted to nature. One of his characters, indicating the abundant wildlife says it goes to show how human habitation is worse, far worse for nature than the greatest nuclear accident in history. "If I see an environmentalist I will advise him that if he cares for nature, he should promote nuclear accidents whereever possible."
