Norwegian People's Aid Bosnia and Herzegovina

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How can environmental protection be enhanced in mine action and disarmament operations? With funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian People’s Aid is taking the lead on environmental protection in the mine action and disarmament sector, fully embracing the ‘do no harm’ model of humanitarian aid.
Humanitarian disarmament operations that clear landmines and other types of unexploded remnants of war (ERW) like bombs and ammunition have not traditionally incorporated environmental concerns into survey and disposal activities. This is despite the fact that survey and disposal methods, such as large-scale vegetation cutting and use of demining machines, can cause environmental damage through pollution and soil degradation. At worse, neglecting the environment during mine action and disarmament operations can have the unintended effect of attracting people into areas that were previously uninhabited because of contamination, leading to high rates of deforestation and wildlife poaching in newly cleared areas.