Environmental Aspects of the International Crisis of Antipersonnel Landmines and the Implementation of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, Landmine Monitor Report 2000
Environmental Aspects of the International Crisis of Antipersonnel Landmines and
the Implementation of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty
By Claudio
Torres-Nachón, Center for Environmental Law and Economic Integration of
the South-DASSUR, dassurct@prodigy.net.mx
The international landmine crisis should be understood as an ancillary
element of the current international environmental crisis. There is a strong
need for a global environmental impact assessment of landmines. Be it for
assessing its impact on wildlife or to evaluate atmospheric emissions by
destruction of stockpile, environmental impact assessments are essential to
advance in humanitarian demining in Africa and elsewhere as a pre-requisite for
redevelopment after war.
The impact of landmines goes further than the killing and maiming of
civilians and military well after conflicts are over. Landmines affect many
components of the global biosphere. Among the many problems attached to the use
of landmines are those related to its impact on the natural environment and its
components. Landmines have killed and maimed large numbers of specimens of
wildlife and domestic species worldwide. Landmines set in motion a series of
events leading to environmental degradation in the forms of soil degradation,
deforestation, pollution of water resources with heavy metals and possibly
altering entire species’ populations by degrading habitats and altering
food chains. Additionally, landmines are usually placed near hospitals or
sanitation facilities, impacting the ability to preserve human health. In
certain cases there is a repetitive geographical coincidence between
mine-affected zones and biodiversity hotspots. By degrading habitats, impacting
population species, altering food’s chain, and placing additional pressure
over natural resources, landmines pose a considerable risk to pristine
ecosystems throughout the world. Landmine-poaching presents the ultimate
distortion of this insidious weapon. It is used as a simple and effective
mechanism for killing wildlife. Environmental impacts may occur while demining
is taking place or by destruction of stockpile as well.
In general terms, environmental impacts of APMs can roughly be categorized as
direct or indirect. 1) Direct Impacts Of Landmines On The Environment: By direct
environmental impact we refer to those effects, alterations and disruptions
caused to the natural environment and/or its components at the moment and
specific location of the blast of a landmine; 2) Indirect Impacts Of Landmines
On The Environment: Indirect environmental impact of landmines are those
effects, alterations and disruptions that may take place at differentiated
spatial and temporal scheme from an original location or explosion of a
landmine.
From a temporal spectrum indirect impacts may be continuous and/or delayed at
a short, medium or long term. By continuos impacts we refer to those landmine
related physico-chemical effects which degrade, pollute or transform in any
ecologically sensitive perspective those environmental elements interacting with
the device, i.e. Decomposition or corrosion of the landmine’s case, may
produce a prolonged leaking of toxic heavy metals typically present in a
landmine, as mercury and lead. Delayed impacts are those negatively affecting
the environment and it components at a later time in a single, recognizable
event, i.e. Certain methods of mine clearance may produce such impacts.
Short term effects generally include the physical destruction of close range
vegetation and killing/injuring of wildlife. Medium term impacts may include a
deterioration on soil composition preventing cultivation lands to return to
levels of agricultural production prior to a landmine explosion. Long term
impacts include the persistence and bioaccumulation of certain toxic substances
freed into the site of the blast as mercury and lead, both present on most
landmines. It is open to discussion how to classify impacts which are specially
difficult to assess and quantify. A probable influence into global warming by
depletion and enhanced human pressure over natural carbon dioxide sinks as
forest presents an enormous task for scientists. As entire populations may not
be able to return to their villages or cultivation lands, in occasion they are
forced to find new land to settle. To better comprehend the issue, let us
remember some basic principles of environmentalism: first, nature knows best;
second, everything must go somewhere; and third, but not last, everything is
connected to everything else. Therefore, even if such impact on global warming
happens to be minimal, it should be properly addressed as an innovative way to
reflex on the nature and ends of armed conflict.
The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty makes two explicit references to environmental
issues: Article 5(4)(c) states that “States Parties may request an
extension of the deadline for completing the destruction of such landmines to a
Meeting of States Parties. Such request of deadlines extensions shall containing
the humanitarian, social, economic and environmental implications of the
extension”. By such reference to environmental implications, the
strategic importance of environmental issues is underlined in the international
humanitarian strategy to universally ban and destroy landmines. On the other
hand, such provisions opens up a possibility for fraudulent States to use the
environment to escape from their immediate obligations of destruction within the
established 10 years period of planted landmines on territories under its
jurisdiction or control as stated in Article 5(1) of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.
In short, environmental issues may represent both a positive or a negative tool
for the effective implementation of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and the global
eradication of landmines. Nevertheless, such environmental allegations may be
valid and legitimate as to request an extension on the compliance with the
general obligation above mentioned. As such, it is an indispensable, delicate
and urgent task to develop and establish a Working Group on Environmental
Aspects of the Landmine Crisis and the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty to compile,
evaluate, classify, and analyze information related to past, present, and
potential impacts of the landmine crisis on the environment for the territories
of States Parties and Non-Parties to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, since ecosystems,
rivers, underground waters, marine currents, species and all other elements of
the environment recognize no political borders and legal situations of
transboundary pollution may occur, directly or indirectly caused by the
international landmine crisis.
Our first and overall policy recommendation resides on the need for a global
environmental impact assessment of landmines, Africa being the first region to
assess. Be it for assessing its impact on wildlife or to evaluate atmospheric
emissions by destruction of stockpile, environmental impact assessments are
essential to advance in humanitarian demining in Africa and elsewhere as a
pre-requisite for redevelopment after war.
Second, specific attention should be paid to the advances of the Study on the
Use of Socio-Economic Analysis in Planning and Evaluating Mine Action Programmes
undertaken by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining. As it
is to include environmental indicators, environmentalists should try to
participate at every level possible in the development and follow-up of such
study as it will serve as a cornerstone for humanitarian demining policy makers
in the aftermath of the Second Meeting of the State Parties to the 1997 Mine Ban
Treaty to be held in Geneva on September 2000.
Third, multilateral, environmental and humanitarian demining organizations
should work together with countries Party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty towards
the development and ultimate establishment of a Minimum Environmental Standard
(MES) for the destruction of antipersonnel landmines. A first step should be the
detailed sharing of specific environmental measuring and mitigation techniques
used during destruction of stockpile and planted landmines between
technologically advanced and developing or less developed countries.
Fourth, in countries where the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty has not been signed or
ratified, it may probe effective to follow a strategy consisting on distributing
this and other publications on environmental impacts of landmines to national
environmental organizations in order to get them on board for advocacy goals for
signature, ratification and/or effective implementation of the 1997 Mine Ban
Treaty. By doing so, environmental organizations may become part of national
campaigns and use their influence to advance in the goal of universal ban of
landmines.