Scientists Call For Geneva Convention To Protect Nature In War

More than 20 biologists from around the world have backed the notion (Picture: MOD).

Scientists are calling on governments to include deliberate damage to wildlife and the environment during a conflict under international laws against war crimes.

Researchers at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) warn that war can take a "brutal toll" on nature and vulnerable communities which rely on it for their livelihoods.

They said it could drive species to extinction and poison water resources.

Professor Sarah Durant, of ZSL's Institute of Zoology, said changing the law would "not only help safeguard threatened species, but would also support rural communities, both during and post-conflict, whose livelihoods are long-term casualties of environmental destruction".

More than 20 biologists from around the world have backed the notion by the United Nations' International Law Commission to protect the environment in armed conflict.

There were calls for a fifth convention two decades ago, to sit alongside the four conventions on the treatment of wounded and sick soldiers on land, wounded, sick and shipwrecked personnel at sea, prisoners of war and civilians.

But military conflict still destroys nature, the scientists warn.

Co-signatory Dr Jose Brito, of the University of Porto, added: "The impacts of armed conflict are causing additional pressure to imperilled wildlife from the Middle East and North Africa.

"Global commitment is needed to avoid the likely extinction of emblematic desert fauna over the next decade."

A fifth Geneva Convention would provide a multilateral treaty that includes legal instruments to protect crucial natural resources in areas where fighting is taking place, they argue.