<
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/polish-belarusian-border-wall-environmental-disaster>
"The border between Poland and Belarus is a land of forests, rolling hills,
river valleys, and wetlands. But this once peaceful countryside has become a
militarized zone. Prompted by concerns about an influx of primarily Middle
Eastern migrants from Belarus, the Polish government has begun construction on
a massive wall across its eastern border.
Human rights organizations and conservation groups have decried the move. The
wall will be up to 18 feet tall (5.5 meters) and stretch for 116 miles (186
kilometers) along Poland’s eastern border, according to the Polish Border
Guard, despite laws in place that the barrier seems to violate. It’s slated to
plow through fragile ecosystems, including Białowieża Forest, the continent’s
last lowland old-growth woodland.
If completed within the next few months as planned, the wall would block
migration routes for many animal species, such as wolves, lynx, red deer,
recovering populations of brown bears, and the largest remaining population of
European bison, says Katarzyna Nowak, a researcher at the Białowieża
Geobotanical Station, part of the University of Warsaw. This could have
wide-ranging impacts, since the Polish-Belarus border is one of the most
important corridors for wildlife movement between Eastern Europe and Eurasia,
and animal species depend on connected populations to stay genetically healthy.
Border fences are rising around the world, the U.S.-Mexico wall being one of
the most infamous. A tragic irony of such walls is that while they do reliably
stop the movement of wildlife, they do not entirely prevent human migration;
they generally only delay or reroute it. And they don’t address its root
causes. Migrants often find ways to breach walls, by going over, under, or
through them.
Nevertheless, time after time, the specter of migrants crossing borders has
caused governments to ignore laws meant to protect the environment, says John
Linnell, a biologist with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research."
Via >sfb< SigmundFreud'sBartender and Christoph S.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
