The demilitarized zone separating the Koreas has become a haven for wildlife

Between North and South Korea lies the demilitarized zone (DMZ), one of the most heavily armed borders in the world. The 257km stretch is barred with fences and land mines and is virtually empty of human activity. This isolation, however, has become a haven for wildlife.

Google released Street View images of the DMZ for the first time this week, offering a rare glimpse of the flora and fauna that inhabit this isolated land.

The images are part of a project done in collaboration with several Korean institutions to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, which stopped hostilities in 1953 and mapped the DMZ, although technically the war never ended because no peace treaty was signed. signed.

The project allows viewers to take a “virtual tour” with Google’s street view function, highlighting cultural relics and historic sites near the DMZ, such as war-torn buildings and defense bunkers.

But the most amazing images are of the more than 6,100 species that thrive in the DMZ, ranging from reptiles and birds to plants.

Of Korea’s 267 endangered species, 38% live in the DMZ, according to Google.

“After the Korean War, the DMZ had minimal human interference for over 70 years, and the damaged nature recovered on its own,” it said on its website. “As a result, it has built a new ecosystem not seen in cities and has become a sanctuary for wildlife.”

The inhabitants of the DMZ include endangered mountain goats that live in the Rocky Mountains; musk deer with long tusks that live in ancient forests; otters that swim along the river that cuts between the two Koreas; and the endangered golden eagles, which often winter in civilian frontier areas where residents feed hungry hunters.

Many of the images were captured by unmanned cameras installed by the National Institute of Ecology in South Korea. In 2019, these cameras photographed a young Asian black bear for the first time in 20 years – delighting researchers long concerned about the endangered population’s decline due to poaching and habitat destruction.

Seung-ho Lee, president of the DMZ Forum, a group that campaigns to protect the area’s ecological and cultural heritage, told CNN It is 2019 that the DMZ has also become an oasis for migratory birds due to worsening conditions on both sides of the border.

Logging and flooding have damaged North Korean lands, while urban development and pollution have fragmented habitats in South Korea, he said.

“We call the region an accidental paradise,” he said at the time.

Google images also show pristine and biodiverse landscapes. Users can use the street view to explore Yongneup High Swamp, with wide grassy fields filled with swamp plants, or the Hantan River Gorge, with turquoise water meandering between high granite walls.

Many voices, both in Korea and in international environmental organizations, have been calling for conservation of the DMZ for decades. The process, however, is not easy as it requires cooperation from both Seoul and Pyongyang.

There has been some progress in recent years, with former South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledging in 2018 to turn the DMZ into a “peace zone”.

The following year, South Korea opened the first of three “peace trails” to limited numbers of visitors along the DMZ, taking hikers past observatories and barbed wire fences.

However, relations have deteriorated since then, with tensions soaring in 2022 when North Korea fired a record number of missiles and when a new South Korean president took office.