World Changing Response # 4 - Land Mines

Land mines cost about $3 to make and are still scattered through many war zones around the world. While 1,500 people are killed or maimed by land mines monthly an estimated 45 million still remain actively undiscovered. Despite damage to the body, land mines also damage the development of communities because they are placed where people are most likely to walk. Farmland is left unplowed that could feed hungry people and roads/trails don’t link villages for fear of accidental detonation. Many mines are made with plastic which makes detection even harder. The most common way for removing land mines now is through trained animals and experts crawling on their bellies with large poles.

Innovative responses are emerging such as MineWolf; Heinz Rath, a retired German engineer designed a modified tractor paralleling the process of extracting sugar beats from the soil. It is the first landmine-clearing device with humanitarian instincts – transforming minefields into crop fields. MineWolf which explodes the bombs is still dangerous as it releases chemicals into the air and soil. The Dragon was engineered to burn out the mines with a torch instead of detonating them. The Dragon is low cost, easy to use, and safer for the environment and people though it does not till the land for farming.

In a very different approach, Danish scientists are using nature to detect land mines. When the explosives in the mines gradually decay they release nitrogen dioxide into the soil. A genetically modified flower changes color when its roots come into contact with NO2. The movement of “adopting-a-minefield” is also on the rise with wealthy patrons who fund the 2 month clearing of minefields for the civilians who desperately need it. Smaller pools of money and donations to the same organization go toward the survivors in the form of treatment, loans, counseling, and job training (Steffen 218-220).

Steffen, Alex. World Changing: A User’s Guide For The 21st Century. New York: Abrams, 2008.