Editing Land mine (section)

== Impacts ==
Throughout the world there are millions of hectares that are contaminated with land mines.<ref name="Leaning 1157–1161">{{Cite journal|last=Leaning|first=Jennifer|date=October 31, 2000|title=Environment and health: 5. Impact of war|pmc=80251|journal=CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal|volume=163|issue=9|pages=1157–1161|issn=0820-3946|pmid=11079063}}</ref>

=== Casualties ===
From 1999 to 2017, the ''Landmine Monitor'' has recorded over 120,000 [[Casualty (person)|casualties]] from mines, IEDs and ERW; it estimates that another 1,000 per year go unrecorded. The estimate for all time is over half a million. In 2017, at least 2,793 were killed and 4,431 injured. 87% of the casualties were civilians and 47% were children (less than 18 years old). The largest numbers of casualties were in Afghanistan (2,300), Syria (1,906), and Ukraine (429).<ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/2018/landmine-monitor-2018.aspx |title=Landmine Monitor 2018 |date=November 20, 2018 |publisher=International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalition |pages=49–51 |access-date=June 5, 2019 |archive-date=November 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106215828/http://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/2018/landmine-monitor-2018.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Environmental ===
Natural disasters can have a significant impact on efforts to demine areas of land. For example, the floods that occurred in Mozambique in 1999 and 2000 may have displaced hundreds of thousands of land mines left from the war. Uncertainty about their locations delayed recovery efforts.<ref name="Leaning 1157–1161"/>

=== Land degradation ===
From a study by  [[Asmeret Asefaw Berhe]], [[land degradation]] caused by land mines "can be classified into five groups: access denial, [[Biodiversity loss|loss of biodiversity]], micro-relief disruption, chemical composition, and loss of productivity". The effects of an explosion depend on: "(i) the objectives and methodological approaches of the investigation; (ii) concentration of mines in a unit area; (iii) chemical composition and toxicity of the mines; (iv) previous uses of the land and (v) alternatives that are available for the affected populations".<ref name=Berhe2006>{{Cite journal|last=Berhe|first=A. A.|date=August 7, 2006|title=The contribution of landmines to land degradation|journal=Land Degradation & Development|volume=18|issue=1|pages=1–15|doi=10.1002/ldr.754|s2cid=5848182 |issn=1085-3278}}</ref>

==== Access denial ====
The most prominent ecological issue associated with land mines (or fear of them) is denial of access to vital resources (where "access" refers to the ability to use resources, in contrast to "property", the right to use them).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ribot|first1=Jesse C.|last2=Peluso|first2=Nancy Lee|date=October 22, 2009|title=A Theory of Access |journal=Rural Sociology|volume=68|issue=2|pages=153–181|doi=10.1111/j.1549-0831.2003.tb00133.x|s2cid=146470055 |issn=0036-0112}}</ref> The presence and fear of presence of even a single land mine can discourage access for agriculture, water supplies and possibly conservation measures.<ref name=Berhe2006/> Reconstruction and development of important structures such as schools and hospitals are likely to be delayed, and populations may shift to urban areas, increasing overcrowding and the risk of spreading diseases.<ref name=Newman>{{Cite journal|last1=Newman|first1=Robert D.|last2=Mercer|first2=Mary Anne|date=July 19, 2013|title=Environmental Health Consequences of Land Mines|journal=International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health|volume=6|issue=3|pages=243–248|doi=10.1179/oeh.2000.6.3.243|pmid=10926729|s2cid=20819737|issn=1077-3525}}</ref>

Access denial can have positive effects on the environment. When a mined area becomes a "no-man's land", plants and vegetation have a chance to grow and recover. For example, formerly arable lands in Nicaragua returned to forests and remained undisturbed after the establishment of land mines. Similarly, the penguins of the Falkland Islands have benefited because they are not heavy enough to trigger the mines present.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39821956| title=The penguins that would not explode| work=BBC News| date=May 7, 2017| access-date=January 23, 2019| archive-date=January 16, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116173812/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39821956| url-status=live}}</ref> However, these benefits can only last as long as animals, tree limbs, etc. do not detonate the mines. In addition, long idle periods could "potentially end up creating or exacerbating loss of productivity", particularly within land of low quality.<ref name=Berhe2006/>

==== Loss of biodiversity ====
Land mines can threaten [[biodiversity]] by wiping out vegetation and wildlife during explosions or demining. This extra burden can push threatened and endangered species to extinction. They have also been used by poachers to target endangered species. Displaced refugees hunt animals for food and destroy habitat by making shelters.<ref name=Berhe2006/>

Shrapnel, or abrasions of bark or roots caused by detonated mines, can cause the slow death of trees and provide entry sites for wood-rotting fungi. When land mines make land unavailable for farming, residents resort to the forests to meet all of their survival needs. This exploitation furthers the loss of biodiversity.<ref name=Berhe2006/>

==== Chemical contamination ====
Near mines that have exploded or decayed, soils tend to be contaminated, particularly with heavy metals. Products produced from the explosives, both organic and inorganic substances, are most likely to be "long lasting, water-soluble and toxic even in small amounts".<ref name=Berhe2006/> They can be implemented either "directly or indirectly into soil, water bodies, microorganisms and plants with drinking water, food products or during respiration".<ref name=Berhe2006/>

Toxic compounds can also find their way into bodies of water and [[bioaccumulation|accumulate]] in land animals, fish and plants. They can act "as a nerve poison to hamper growth", with deadly effect.<ref name=Berhe2006/>