The ''Zone Rouge'' (English: Red Zone) is a chain of non-contiguous areas throughout northeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

that the French government isolated after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The land, which originally covered more than , was deemed too physically and environmentally damaged by conflict for human habitation. Rather than attempt to immediately clean up the former battlefields, the land was allowed to return to nature. Restrictions within the ''Zone Rouge'' still exist today, although the control areas have been greatly reduced. The ''Zone Rouge'' was defined just after the war as "Completely devastated. Damage to properties: 100%. Damage to Agriculture: 100%. Impossible to clean. Human life impossible". Under French law, activities such as

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether ...

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

, or

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

were temporarily or permanently forbidden in the ''Zone Rouge'', because of the vast amounts of human and animal remains, and millions of items of unexploded ordnance contaminating the land. Some towns and villages were never permitted to be rebuilt after the war.

Main dangers

The area is saturated with unexploded shells (including many gas shells), grenades, and rusty ammunition. Soils were heavily polluted by

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

, mercury,

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine i ...

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, b ...

, various dangerous gases, acids, and human and animal remains. The area was also littered with ammunition depots and chemical plants. Each year, several tons of unexploded shells are recovered. According to the Sécurité Civile agency in charge, at the current rate, 300 to 700 more years will be needed to clean the area completely. Some experiments conducted in 2005–06 discovered up to 300 shells per hectare (120 per acre) in the top 15 cm (6 inches) of soil in the worst areas. Some areas where 99% of all plants still die remain off limits (for example, two small pieces of land close to

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality ...

and Woëvre), as

constitutes up to 175,907 mg/kg of soil samples.

References

* Smith, Corinna Haven & Hill, Caroline R. ''Rising Above the Ruins in France: An Account of the Progress Made Since the Armistice in the Devastated Regions in Re-establishing Industrial Activities and the Normal Life of the People''. New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 1920: 6. * De Sousa David, ''La Reconstruction et sa Mémoire dans les villages de la Somme 1918–1932'', Editions La vague verte, 2002, 212 pages * Bonnard Jean-Yves, ''La reconstitution des terres de l'Oise après la Grande Guerre: les bases d'une nouvelle géographie du foncier'', in Annales Historiques Compiégnoises 113–114, pp. 25–36, 2009. * Parent G.-H., 2004. ''Trois études sur la Zone Rouge de Verdun, une zone totalement sinistrée'' I.L'herpétofaune – II.La diversité floristique – III.Les sites d'intérêt botanique et zoologique à protéger prioritairement. Ferrantia, 288 pages * Bausinger, Tobias; Bonnaire, Lee Tiffee, Eric; & Preuß, Johannes,. ''Exposure assessment of a burning ground for chemical ammunition on the Great War battlefields of Verdun'',

Science of the Total Environment ''Science of the Total Environment'' is a weekly international peer-reviewed scientific journal covering environmental science. It was established in 1972 and is published by Elsevier. The editors-in-chief are Damià Barceló (Consejo Superior de ...

382:2–3, pp. 259–271, 2007.

External links

* Map of the Western Front in 1918
''Déminage à Douaumont''

National Geographic: France’s Zone Rouge is a Lingering Reminder of World War I
{{Use dmy dates, date=February 2019 Battle of the Somme Ecotoxicology Environment of France Environmental disasters in Europe France geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Geography of Somme (department) World War I sites in France Soil contamination

Main dangers

See also

References

Further reading

External links