United Nations Radio

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on countries to protect the environment in times of conflict.

In a message for the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, Mr. Ban said studies of the environmental impacts of conflict from the Balkans to Afghanistan, from Lebanon to Sudan, had shown how environmental damage is threatening human health, livelihoods and security.

Mr. Ban noted that the Geneva Conventions provided for protection of the environment. But during war and armed conflict, water wells are polluted, crops torched, forests cut down, soils poisoned and animals killed, all in order to gain military advantage. He cited the draining of the marshlands of the Euphrates-Tigris Delta during the 1990s for political and military goals as an example of deliberate targeting of the ecosystem.

Mr. Ban said the UN attaches great importance to ensuring that action on the environment is part of the organization's approach to peace, and that protecting the environment could help countries create employment opportunities, promote development and avoid a relapse into armed conflict.

Reporting for UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

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