100 Years After WWI, Nature Is Finally Reclaiming A Historic Battlefield

A region in France devastated by battle undergoes an ecological makeover.

By Katherine Kornei
May 8, 2018 12:00 AMNov 15, 2019 2:53 PM
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The Battle of Verdun lasted 10 months, leveling parts of northeastern France in 1916. The German attack stretched across nine villages, including Verdun. Ullstein Bild/Granger NYC

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The Battle of Verdun in northeastern France was one of the longest and bloodiest clashes of World War I, claiming roughly 300,000 lives. It also decimated the landscape: Intense artillery fire felled nearly all of the region’s trees, and millions of exploding shells left deep depressions, exposing the limestone bedrock.

Now, 100 years after the end of World War I, recent research shows that new plants and animals have claimed the former battlefield as their habitat. They are adapting to the unique landforms of shell craters and underground shelters created by war.

La Zone Rouge

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