Defensive Rewilding: Wetlands as Border Barriers
Why it matters: This strategy could reshape national defense planning, integrating environmental restoration into military deterrence.
- University of East London (UEL) research proposes "defensive rewilding" as a method to intentionally restore ecosystems pre- or mid-conflict to impede military advances while providing environmental benefits.
- The concept aims to align defense and climate action, countering the "guns versus climate" dilemma by making landscapes both environmentally resilient and militarily secure.
- Examples include restoring wetlands to create difficult terrain for armored vehicles, planting forests to restrict visibility, and re-naturalizing rivers to complicate crossings, all of which also support carbon storage and biodiversity.
- Sam Jelliman, a UEL researcher, highlights peatlands as a particularly effective example, noting their low ground-bearing capacity makes them challenging for even light armored vehicles while also serving as powerful long-term carbon stores.
New research from the University of East London (UEL) introduces "defensive rewilding," a strategy to restore ecosystems like wetlands and forests to create natural border barriers, simultaneously addressing national defense and climate change. This approach reframes environmental policy as a "force multiplier" in security, offering a long-term, strategic alternative to temporary battlefield measures.
