GREEN

R U N N E R

VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 6

COVER STORY

WAR AND environment

ENVIRONMENT
Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

INSIDE THE ISSUE

FROM THE DIRECTOR S DESK
FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS OR SMOKE?
WAR AND ENVIRONMENT - FEATURE
KIDS CORNER + COMICS
All Rights Reserved. GreenLine 2016

GREEN

R U N N E R

FROM THE DIRECTOR s DESK

atching news on the television, especially international news, has become a

distressing experience. Most of the international news coverage today focuses on
conflict, violence and war! Sudan, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and a host
of other countries seem to be caught up in a never-ending spiral of conflict. Even though we live
far from these conflict zones, or have been lucky not to have lived through the ravages of a war,
these news stories leave us deeply disturbed. We immediately understand the pain and
difficulties the people in those places are going through, especially the traumatic experience
children in those areas have to suffer.
Savio Silveira
Director, GreenLine

War not only affects people, it also harms nature and the environment in general. To help us
realize and remember this important fact, the United Nations General Assembly has declared
6th November of each year as the 'International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the
Environment in War and Armed Conflict'. Elaborating on this, the United Nations states:
Though mankind has always counted its war casualties in terms of dead and wounded soldiers
and civilians, destroyed cities and livelihoods, the environment has often remained the
unpublicized victim of war. Water wells have been polluted, crops torched, forests cut down,
soils poisoned, and animals killed to gain military advantage. Further, it also adds: The United
Nations attaches great importance to ensuring that action on the environment is part of
conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding strategies - because there can be no
durable peace if the natural resources that sustain livelihoods and ecosystems are destroyed.
Reading the above statement of the United Nations, I was impressed by the idea that there can be
no durable peace if natural resources and natural ecosystems are destroyed. How true! The Dalai
Lama expresses the same sentiments when he says: "Peace and the survival of life on earth as we
know it are threatened by human activities that lack a commitment to humanitarian values.
Destruction of nature and natural resources results from ignorance, greed and lack of respect
for the earth's living things .

Photo: American War

Helicopters rest next to
the burning Kuwaiti oil
fields, set ablaze by the
retreating Iraqi forces in
1991.

I guess, for now, we may not have the opportunity to work on peacebuilding in war torn zones,
but we can definitely strive to promote a peaceful atmosphere in our schools and
neighbourhoods. Ensuring a safe and serene atmosphere in our localities, also ensures that we
create the right conditions for people to focus on environmental and other important issues.
Being green campaigners and peace campaigners are clearly two sides of the same coin!

(Photo by A. Abbas via

Magnum Photos)

All Rights Reserved. GreenLine 2016

GREEN

R U N N E R

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS OR SMOKE?

In the last week of October, we celebrated Diwali or

Deepawali, also known as the festival of lights in our
country. It is marked as one of the important festivals in
Hinudism. Apart from india, this festival is celebrated in
twelve other countries around the world.
Diwali has been celebrated in India since Ancient times
and signifies the victory of Good over evil or Light over
darkness. According to legend of the Ramayana, Lord
Ram, after defeating the Lankan king Ravana was
welcomed by the people of his home town Ayodhya, by
lighting rows of clay lamps all over the city and
distributing sweets.
The tradition is still continued today, during Diwali. In
modern times, Diwali is celebrated with much fervour,
joy and celebration. Houses are cleaned and decorated.
People buy new clothes, sweets and gold. Beautiful
Rangolis are created and oil lamps are lighted to create a
festive atmosphere. Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of
wealth is venerated with Lakshmi Poojan.
However, along with these celebrations people also light
crackers. While the origin of the tradition of burning
crackers during Diwali can be debated, lighting crackers
is considered a part of Diwali celebrations. These
crackers, in large numbers cause serious concerns with
regards to noise pollution. They are harmful to humans
as well as animals. Many of these crackers are

manufactured using banned chemicals. A recent study

showed that some of them emit smoke equivalent to
burning four cigarettes.
While the quantity of bursting these crackers has
reduced drastically over the last two decades, thanks to
some strict government regulations, that are still
significant instances of their use during Diwali.
However, increased awareness and education amongst
the latest generations have led to people celebrating an
eco-friendlier Diwali. Many schools in the Green Schools
Campaign now teach children about eco-friendly Diwali
by following the mantra of Refuse, Reduce and Recycle
(refusing crackers, reduce the use of electricity used
clay diyas, reuse of props and other decorative articles)
which in turn sensitizes students to the harmful effects
of crackers. Some schools have gone out of their way to
do this, by celebrating a Diwali in their school in an ecofriendly manner.
We slowly hope to increase this awareness about ecofriendly Diwali, maybe someday a no-cracker Diwali and
a festival that can then signify what it was originally
meant to be 'the festival of lights'.
-Macson D Almeida
Program Officer, GreenLine

The Diwali of 2016 was

one of the most polluted ones in Delhi.
With severely high levels of toxic
particulate matter.
This led to many people complaining
of respiratory problems.
The city itself was covered in a
thick blanket of smog and pollution

All Rights Reserved. GreenLine 2016

GREEN

COVER STORY

R U N N E R

WAR AND ENVIRONMENT

Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
In 2001, the UN General Assembly declared 6 November as the International Day for
Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.
Humans, being selfish, have always calculated war casualties in terms of dead soldiers
or destroyed cities, forgetting about the environment as a victim. According to UN
Environment Program (UNEP), at least40% of internal conflicts affect natural
resources. For eg. wells polluted, crops burnt down, forests cut, soils poisoned, and
animals killed to gain military advantage, also giving rise to many long term diseases.
The UN prevents conflict by peacebuilding strategies - because nothing is achieved
when ecosystems are destroyed. UNEP sends expert teams to assess environmental
damage and determine risks for human health, livelihoods and security.
This day, raises awareness because environment and natural resources are crucial for
building peace, and need protection in times of armed conflict. What are the possible
costs of War? Who will pay the price?
Desperate people will continue to live their lives at the expense of all around them
and who could punish them?
Let us think of our current war crises. We need to stop using this planet with a
careless attitude, as if there is another planet we can run to!
-Janice Vaz
Program Officer, GreenLine

The environmental impact of war:

In Kuwait in 1991, after the Gulf
War ended, the retreating Iraqi
forces torched hundreds of oil
wells. Photograph: Per-Anders
Pettersson/Corbis
All Rights Reserved. GreenLine 2016

Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

GREEN

R U N N E R

Rawandan Genoicde
The Rwandan genocide led to the killing of
roughly 800,000 people. The war created a
massive migration of nearly 2 million fleeing
Rwanda over the course of just a few weeks to
refugee camps in Tanzania and the Congo. This
large displacement of people in refugee camps
put pressure on the surrounding ecosystem.
Forests were cleared in order to provide wood
for building shelters and creating cooking fires.
Consequences from the conflict also included
the degradation of National Parks and Reserves.
The population crash in Rwanda shifted
personnel and capital to other parts of the
country, making it hard to protect wildlife.

NUCLEAR TESTINGS
Testing of nuclear devices has been
carried out at various places in the world
including Bikini Atoll, the Marshall
Islands in the Pacific Ocean, Mururoa
Atoll, Maralinga in Australia, and Novaya
Zemlya in the former Soviet Union,
among others.Communities are exposed
to radioactive contamination from the
nuclear fallout while eco-systems
around the region are completely
obliterated and ruined for years to come.

9/11
New York City was covered in dense toxic
smoke after the attacks of 9/11. As the planes
hit the Twin Towers more than 90.000 litres of
jet fuel burned at temperatures above 1000C.
An atmospheric plume formed, consisting of
toxic materials. At the site now called Ground
Zero, a large pile of smoking rubble burned
intermittently for more than 3 months. Gaseous
and particulate particles kept forming long
after the towers had collapsed.

All Rights Reserved. GreenLine 2016

GREEN

R U N N E R

Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

AGENT ORANGE

arly morning, the rising sun covers the forests in a

golden hue, smoke can be seen on the far side and
fringes of the jungles. Suddenly, a crop dusting plane
flies out over the green cover spraying herbicides over the
Vietnamese forests. During most times, the dusting of
crops would be considered a usual affair. But we are right
now in the middle of the Vietnamese and US war of the
1960's and the planes are not spraying herbicides to
protect the plants but doing the exact opposite. They are
spraying a chemical that has bought much fear and
destruction not just in the lives of people but to thousands
and thousands of acres of pristine rain forests.
Agent Orange was a powerful mixture of chemical
defoliants used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam
War to eliminate forest cover for North Vietnamese
troops, as well as crops that might be used to feed them.
This program, codenamed Operation Ranch Hand, sprayed
more than 19 million gallons of herbicides over 4.5 million
acres of land in Vietnam from 1961 to 1972. Agent
Orange, which contained the chemical dioxin, was the
most commonly used of the herbicide mixtures, and the
most effective.
Rain forests destroyed, millions of plants and species of
trees wiped out, eco-systems toppled, wildlife left
without food, birds left without trees, insects with no
places to breed. A once endowed jungle now brought to the

brink of death by the selfish arrogance of war and hate. As

we will never learn, the planet and its other citizens suffer
from the wrong doings by us humans.
In addition to the massive environmental impact of the
U.S. defoliation program in Vietnam, it has been reported
that some 400,000 people were killed or maimed as a
result of exposure to herbicides like Agent Orange. In
addition, Vietnam claims half a million children have been
born with serious birth defects, while as many 2 million
people are suffering from cancer or other illness caused
by Agent Orange.
It was later revealed to cause serious health
issues including tumors, birth defects, rashes,
psychological symptoms and cancer even among
returning U.S. servicemen and their families.
War brings nothing but destruction and an irreversible
damage to the minds of people, damage to the future of
children in war torn areas and damage to the planet we live
in. We need to act now and act fast if we are to resolve and
find a solution to this foolishness and live in harmony with
the rest of humanity and preserve our one and only earth.
- Gargi VR
Program Officer, GreenLine

Agent Orange was named for

the orange stripe painted on
the 55-gallon drums in
which the mixture was
stored.

All Rights Reserved. GreenLine 2016

GREEN

R U N N E R

KIDS

The Nature I See

CORNER
Exhibition by Fort Convent

The nature I see is the creation of god,

feels to observe it lying on a cot,
beautiful flowers, beautiful trees, with the
presence of insects and bees.

The students of standard 9th of

Fort Convent, had put up an
assembly on 25th August 2016 on
the topic Water Conservation
where students of standard 5 to 9
attended the assembly.

The nature I see is the creation of god,

desire to make the fauna be spot,
this nature makes me realise,
that I see it from above the skies.
The nature I see is a creation of god,
by being thankful for the gifts I got,
trees,birds,insects and flies,
with beautiful seas and earthly skies.

Students were asked to make model

projects on topics related to water
conservation covering topics like
rain water harvesting, etc.

The nature I see is a creation of god,

but now it seems I hate it a lot,
I see the garbage on lands,seas and sights
but to clean it only my desire gets arise.
So lets take an oath to clean this earth,
thus to make the nature rebirth,
doing this we will realize on a spot,
that the nature see is the creation of god.
By the JAL RAKSHAK
Nikhil singh
Don Bosco High School, Naigaon

The projects were exhibited on the Open Day of the school were the
parents, teachers and the students could see the projects to spread
awareness. We received a positive response as the parents were
impressed by the work done by the students.

Report on Water Sample Analysis

Powai lake as on 26th August, 2016
Conducted by: Don Bosco Senior Secondary School, Nerul
Annie and Naznen Ma'am, Atharva M, Amaan N.

Conclusion of the experiment:

By visual supervision our team is clarifying the presence of
green-coloured moulds. Microscopic inspection proved presence
of various micro-organisms which were not able to be identified
due to rapid maovement around the specimen. pH test indicated
the sample to be positioned at 4 ,which is determined acidic. The
results are consistent with data reported in the literature.

All Rights Reserved. GreenLine 2016

GREEN

R U N N E R

WHAT TO WATCH!
Before the Flood is a phenomenal
documentary looking at the
devastating effects of Fossil Fuel use
as a result triggering global climate
change or as we know it Global
Warming. Presented by Academy
Award Winner and Environmentalist
Leonardo Di Caprio.

The Cove is an award-winning and

controversial documentary about the
killing of dolphins and its meat trade in
Japan. The film runs like a thriller with
never before seen footage of the horrors
of Dolphin Fishing shot secretly. The
Cove won the Oscar for the Best
Documentary in 2010.

who said it!

get in touch!
CONTRIBUTE

talk to us

Want to contribute to the

newsletter ?
Write to us at:
newsletter.greenline@gmail.com

Stay updated with everything that

happens at GreenLine.

and we ll feature your work in the

next issue of Green Runner!

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/GreenLineIndia

Tell us how you found this issue,

and if you have any suggestions.
Feedback from our readers is
always welcome!

You can also write to the

GreenLineTeam at
info@greenline.org.in

Website: www.greenline.org.in

NOT FOR SALE

All Rights Reserved. GreenLine 2016