Protected Natural Areas and the Military

Examined here is the impact exerted by the military sector of human society on national parks and other protected natural areas. Disruption during wartime, both by regular and by insurgent armed forces, results largely from the collateral effects of their operations and weapons as well as from illegal logging, hunting, fishing, and pillaging. Disruption during peacetime results largely from training exercises and poaching. A number of actions are suggested to mitigate the military impact on protected natural areas, among them: enhanced environmental education and training (in both the civil and military sectors), greater local participation in the management of protected natural areas, creation of greater respect for an expanded system of demilitarized World Natural Heritage Sites, and especially the nurturing among all peoples of a greater respect for Nature.