Researching Militarized Landscapes: A Literature Review on War and the Militarization of the Environment

Pearson, Chris

doi:10.1080/01426397.2011.570974

Cited by 44 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Armed conflict is the act of war generated by two or more governmental groups, non-governmental groups, or international states that generally involves a combination of active military actions, including aerial assaults, naval craft operations, or ground forces (ICRC 2008;Machlis and Hanson 2008;Pearson 2012). Often, natural ecosystems are termed "terrain" in military battlespace terminology (O'May et al 2005;Visone 2005;Hieb et al 2007), taking on an anthropogenic rather than an eco-centric view of natural landscapes during periods of armed conflict.…”

Section: Active Armed Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of modern war and military activities on biodiversity and the environment

et al. 2015

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Abstract:War is an ever-present force that has the potential to alter the biosphere. Here we review the potential consequences of modern war and military activities on ecosystem structure and function. We focus on the effects of direct conflict, nuclear weapons, military training, and military produced contaminants. Overall, the aforementioned activities were found to have overwhelmingly negative effects on ecosystem structure and function. Dramatic habitat alteration, environmental pollution, and disturbance contributed to population declines and biodiversity losses arising from both acute and chronic effects in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. In some instances, even in the face of massive alterations to ecosystem structure, recovery was possible. Interestingly, military activity was beneficial under specific conditions, such as when an exclusion zone was generated that generally resulted in population increases and (or) population recovery; an observation noted in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. Additionally, military technological advances (e.g., GPS technology, drone technology, biotelemetry) have provided conservation scientists with novel tools for research. Because of the challenges associated with conducting research in areas with military activities (e.g., restricted access, hazardous conditions), information pertaining to military impacts on the environment are relatively scarce and are often studied years after military activities have ceased and with no knowledge of baseline conditions. Additional research would help to elucidate the environmental consequences (positive and negative) and thus reveal opportunities for mitigating negative effects while informing the development of optimal strategies for rehabilitation and recovery.Key words: war, biodiversity, ecosystem structure, conflict, military activities, environment, conservation biology.Résumé : La guerre est une force omniprésente ayant le potentiel d'altérer l'atmosphère. Les auteurs passent en revue les conséquences potentielles des activités guerrières et militaires modernes sur la structure et le fonctionnement des écosystèmes. On met l'accent sur les effets directs et indirects des conflits, des armes nucléaires, des entrainements militaires et des contaminants des produits militaires. Dans l'ensemble, on constate que les activités préalablement mentionnées ont des effets négatifs écrasants sur la structure et le fonctionnement des écosystèmes. Avec des altérations dramatiques des habitats, la pollution et les perturbations environnementales contribuent au déclin des populations et aux pertes de biodiversité provenant des effets aigus et chroniques sur les systèmes terrestres aussi bien qu'aquatiques. Tout de même dans certains cas, en présence d'altérations massives de la structure des écosystèmes, la récupération s'est avérée possible. Il est intéressant de noter qu'une activité militaire fut bénéfique sous des conditions spécifiques telles que la création d'une zone d'exclusion, en générant des augmentations générales des p...

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Section: Active Armed Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of modern war and military activities on biodiversity and the environment

et al. 2015

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“…Much of this work has adopted a critical perspective, noting that the military detritus of warfare continues to pose health risk to both people and the environment years after the violence has supposedly ended. On the other hand, geographic research has documented (and often critiqued) the production of militarized landscapes (Woodward, 1999(Woodward, , 2001(Woodward, , 2013Pearson, 2012). This is seen, for example, in the study of military installations (Yamazaki, 2011), training and proving grounds (Watts, 1998;Woodward, 1999), sites of weapons testing, and places of military occupation (Weizman, 2007).…”

Section: Nature and Warmentioning

confidence: 96%

War and Terrorism, Geography of

Tyner

Henkin

2015

International Encyclopedia of the Social &Amp; Behavioral Sciences

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“…An Indoctrination School, with its dual 'physical materiality' and 'social meaning,' is at root a site for the making and sharing of stories about the north. 93 Many of these stories seem prosaic, and the School's Instructor's manuscripts are anything but conventionally scholarly. 94 But their little lessons proffer a powerful, educative version of geography: of the north as a space for the proper execution of state violence, a region where life e as survival e is a violent proposition.…”

Section: Stressed Soldiers: the Quartermaster Corpsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Canons and wars: American military geography and the limits of disciplines

Farish

2015

Journal of Historical Geography

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Researching Militarized Landscapes: A Literature Review on War and the Militarization of the Environment

Cited by 44 publications

References 76 publications

The effects of modern war and military activities on biodiversity and the environment

The effects of modern war and military activities on biodiversity and the environment

War and Terrorism, Geography of

Canons and wars: American military geography and the limits of disciplines

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