By Sarah Lindon
India and Pakistan’s return to peace talks last month prompted fresh discussion of an idea which Indian and Pakistani mountain climbers have been promoting atop summits in the Swiss Alps. The proposal concerns what is possibly the world’s highest battlefield – the Siachen Glacier – which lies on the India-Pakistan border. Indian and Pakistani soldiers have been engaged in conflict here since 1984. As well as claiming lives, the high altitudes and subzero temperatures prevent human and military waste biodegrading, so it ends up in water supplies that millions of people depend on. Meanwhile, the area’s rich biodiversity is also at risk from the fighting. A habitat for snow leopards, brown bears and ibex, the glacier is home to many endangered species now under threat of extinction, ecologists warn.
The suggested solution is to designate the area as a peace park, allowing India and Pakistan to withdraw with honour and to start rebuilding trust with a project for sustainable development and environmental security. Utopian? The plan has its critics, but peace parks have seen some success stories, and the World Conservation Union believes that “protected areas along national frontiers…can also be powerful symbols and agents of cooperation, especially in areas of territorial conflict.”
Hat tip: Fiona Rotberg
See also: Siachen peace park campaign
