In early March 2022, an explosive device detonated north of Kyiv. The detonation completely destroyed the Kozarovichi Dam on the Irpin Reservoir. Downstream, the plains were flooded for kilometers. Entire villages were submerged, and the torrent scattered both mines and explosive devices. This created a swampy area that presented an insurmountable barrier to Russian attackers. It helped prevent the capture of Kyiv.
On NATO's external borders in Poland and Finland, such wetlands are now increasingly in the spotlight as a defense aid, amid fears of a possible Russian invasion. Both countries are considering re-flooding drained marshes and ponds to create defensive barriers. This could also benefit the environment.
Living, wet wetlands store huge amounts of carbon dioxide. Dry wetlands, on the other hand, emit large amounts of the gas. Restoring healthy wetlands is therefore also crucial for achieving the EU's climate goals.
However, currently a large part of European wetlands has been drained for agriculture.
How Finland's wetlands should strengthen defense capabilities
The Finnish government is now examining areas in the east of the country, near the border with Russia. These are swamps, wetlands and forests with dead trees that act as natural barriers.
"Restored wetlands can serve as natural barriers that can restrict the movement of military equipment and improve Finland's defense capability," the Finnish Ministry of the Environment said in a written statement to DW.
The Ministry is currently establishing a working group to assess specific plans and the scope of wetland restoration for defense purposes.
The strategic and military advantages in the case of defense are being considered by military experts. The working group also includes the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Agriculture. Part of the plan is also to strengthen biodiversity, reduce emissions and improve air and water quality.
Overall, Finland's wetlands and peatlands are not in good condition. Restoring wetlands and forests should also contribute to reducing flooding and nutrient runoff into the water. In peacetime, the restored areas could also be used for recreation and leisure, the ministry says.
Wetlands for defense: an idea centuries old
Swamps, mud, and wetlands have always been part of war and defense strategies. For example, around 1500, northern German peasants defeated a Danish army in the Hemingstedt Marsh, which they knew well and skillfully exploited. The impassable swamps played a key role in the defeat of Napoleon's army during the invasion of Russia in 1812. During both World Wars I and II, swamps and wetlands posed major obstacles for both German and Allied troops.
"There is no military equipment that can just pass through a swamp," says Franziska Taneberger, director of the Greifswald Wetland Center, a joint project of the University of Greifswald and the Michael Sukov Foundation.
She estimates that with an investment of 250 to 500 million euros, around 100.000 hectares of wetlands and wetlands across Europe could be restored.
What wetlands do for the climate
Whether it's filtering and storing water in an increasingly dry and warm climate, or storing large amounts of harmful carbon dioxide: "Wetlands do it for us for free, if we let them," says Taneberger.
When wetlands dry out, their storage capacity is lost. Seven percent of Europe's greenhouse gas emissions come from drained peatlands and former wetlands. Wetlands only make up about three percent of the world's land area, but they sequester almost twice as much carbon dioxide as all the world's forests combined.
Polish initiative "Eastern Shield" - forests and wetlands as a protective wall
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Poland wants to significantly strengthen its eastern border with Belarus and Russia. The "Eastern Shield" initiative is intended to prevent a possible attack by 2028 by expanding surveillance, infrastructure and building physical barriers.
"Nature near the border is an obvious ally of the Eastern Shield," the Polish Ministry of Defense said when contacted by DW.
Part of this is the re-watering of wetlands and the reforestation of border areas. The borders of Poland and Finland with Russia are also NATO's external borders, and are therefore of great importance for the entire military alliance.
"In this case, the objectives of environmental protection and defense overlap," the ministry said in a statement. "Construction measures should be implemented where natural barriers prove to be insufficient obstacles."
Germany's role in NATO
Germany currently has no plans to revive wetlands for defense purposes, the Defense Ministry said in response to a request for comment. Within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's defense plan, Germany is considered a so-called "hub", that is, an important transit country for the movement of troops. However, wetlands and wetlands directly affect the movement capabilities of both enemy and own units, the Defense Ministry writes.
Therefore, draining swamps can have both advantages and disadvantages for one's own troops. And currently, as they say, the disadvantages prevail for the Bundeswehr.
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