Land Mines As Wildlife Protection: Korea's DMZ One Of The Most Biodiverse Places In Asia

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Stretching 155 miles (250km) across the peninsula and 2.4 miles wide, the DMZ is anything but demilitarised. It remains one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders, strewn with landmines and flanked by military installations on both sides. Yet, in the 72 years since the war ended, this forbidden strip has become an accidental ecological paradise.

South Korea’s National Institute of Ecology has documented nearly 6,000 species here, including more than 100 endangered species – representing more than a third of South Korea’s threatened wildlife. The zone’s varied terrain creates distinct habitats: the wetlands of the western sector shelter migrating cranes, while the rugged eastern mountains provide sanctuary for some of the country’s most threatened mammals, including Siberian musk deer and Asiatic black bears. Kim and his small team of volunteers, working from their research institute in Paju, near the North Korean border, have spent two decades documenting this unexpected sanctuary. Each week, come rain or shine, they survey the Civilian Control Zone (CCZ), the restricted buffer area bordering the DMZ.

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During our drive towards one of the few crossing points leading to the DMZ, Kim remarks that we are fortunate to have been granted access. “Usually, when relations are this strained, civilian access is the first thing to be restricted,” he says. Moments later, a phone call from the defence ministry informs us that our clearance has been revoked due to sudden military activity at the border.

“This is the reality we work in,” Kim sighs as we turn back and go to survey a nearby non-militarised spot. “One moment we’re planning research; the next, the military situation changes, and everything is put on hold.” It is a frustrating setback, but one Kim’s team has grown used to. Later, it emerged that North Korean military personnel had approached the demarcation line to plant explosives, before blowing up the last remaining roads connecting the two countries.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/21/north-south-korea-war-demilitarised-zone-dmz-ecology-endangered-wildlife-aoe