How the old West-East German border will be transformed into a green oasis

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It is green After a long-running battle between landowners, government authorities and environmentalists, the federal government announced last month that the entire former border zone would be designated a nature reserve. Only the most trustworthy border soldiers were allowed into the buffer zone that belonged to East Germany and set aside to give the guards time to shoot escapees “It’s a national nature monument – similar to the Statue of Liberty,” says Frobel, an ecologist who has worked for the BUND, a German nature conservancy, since 1985. “Reunification was beyond my imagination.” Environmentalists in East Germany were one of the less well-known driving forces behind the revolution that ultimately led to reunification 30 years ago That view was widely shared A physical border between East and West was first built in 1952, nine years before the Berlin Wall. That meeting would lead to a coordinated campaign that three decades later led the government to last month’s commitment to protect the entire length of the border, which will be known as the Green Belt.