Ironic isn't it.....

[Auran]

Caught the end of this on coutryfile this morning;

Apparently one of the best kept areas of natural grasslands is owned by the Army (portland downs if I remember correctly). No chemical fertilisers have been used on it for over 80 years and it has over 2/3rds of the species of butterfly native to the UK present. Not to mention a whole host of other indigenous wildlife.

Ironic considering that it is the british armys chemical weaponds research base

[Rave]

Porton Down. Indeed it is ironic. A lot of army places are also wildlife havens as I understand it.

Rich :¬)

[RVF500]

Also areas in Germany that were used extensively for armoured vehicle training. Enlcaves of greenery were seperated by wide expanses of dust and sand where the ground had been churned up by tracked vehicles which stopped predators crossing. Not liking the wide open spaces. Also no civilians could wander round leaving thier rubbish about and generally vandalising the area. The result, many species that only survive in such areas and were extinct in other parts of the country.

I also recall seeing something about woodland behind ranges that were home to are species of fungus and other plant life due to sap being drawn from teh trees by bullet strikes.

[Auran]

Next they'll tell us that Chernobyl was good for the environment because it created lots new species of plants and animals

[Angus]

The fact that most of the land used by the army is used for glorified rambling and a bit of off road driving probably helps.

[0iD]

There are a lot of areas in & around Colchester (being a large garrison town) like this, woods & marshland. It's a godsend to wildlife imo. Stops the developers anyway, which has to be good.