Opportunities in Mine Action for Mainstreaming of Environmental Protection and Conservation

This paper explores opportunities in the mine action sector for the mainstreaming of environmental protection and conservation. The paper presents an argument for evidence based environmental activities based on a holistic understanding of the environmental impacts of landmines and other explosive ordnance over time. Accordingly, a framework is drawn from the ‘warfare ecology’ field of study to structure an understanding of impacts as they occur throughout the entire lifecycle of war, incorporating the preparatory phase, wartime phase and post-war phase. Opportunities identified demonstrate the utility of moving beyond a ‘do no harm’ approach in order to adequately identify environmental impacts both within, and beyond minefield boundaries, and effectively address them by facilitating research and conservation efforts, accessing broader funding opportunities, and aligning mine action activities with the global biodiversity and development agendas.

Dr Francis Vorhies, AWEI Director, co-supervised this study. It demonstrates the role that sustainable use of wild species can play in aligning livelihoods and landscapes in a landmine removal operation.