Mnemonic Ecologies

An exploration of the Green Belt conservation project between the former East and West Germanies and its relationship to emergent ecosystems, trauma, and memorialization.

The first book-length scholarly treatment of Germany’s largest conservation project, the Green Belt, Mnemonic Ecologies by Sonja Pieck presents a new interdisciplinary approach: that effective restoration and conservation of wounded land must merge ecology with memory. Since the Cold War’s end in 1989, German conservationists have transformed the once-militarized border between East and West Germany into an extensive protected area. Yet as forests, meadows, and wetlands replace fences, minefields, and guard towers, ecological recovery must reckon with the pain of the borderlands’ brutal past. The lessons gained by conservationists here, Pieck argues, have profound practical and ethical implications far beyond Germany.

Can conservation help heal both ecological and societal wounds? How might conservation honor difficult socioecological pasts? Deeply researched and evocatively written, this beautiful, interdisciplinary investigation into the legacy of war and nature’s resurgence blends environmental history, ethics, geography, and politics with ecology and memory studies. Amid our rampant biodiversity crisis, Mnemonic Ecologies shows why conservation must include humanized landscapes in its purview, thus helping to craft a new conservation ethos that is collaborative, empathetic, and more sensitive to the connections between humans and the places they inhabit.Introduction 1
1 Establishing Mnemonic Ecologies 15
2 Death Strip, Lifeline, Memorial: The Making of the Green Belt 35
3 Romancing Heimat: The Roots of Green Belt Conservation 67
4 Mnemonic Ecologies in the Material and Storied Borderlands 85
5 Mnemonic Ecologies in the Managed and Wild Borderlands 121
6 Global Mnemonic Ecologies 153
Conclusion 183
Acknowledgments 193
Notes 197
Bibliography 235
Index 265“Sonja Pieck brings us to the difficult edge created by ecological damage, recovery, memory, and grief. There are profound lessons for ecological restoration and conservation: kindle memory, don’t forget.”
—Eric Higgs, Professor, School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria
 
“A wonderfully effective exploration of the conundrums facing conservation in today’s altered world, focusing on the narrow strip of land that separated East and West Germany.”
—Richard Hobbs, Emeritus Professor, The University of Western AustraliaSonja K. Pieck is a human geographer and Professor of Environmental Studies at Bates College. Her interdisciplinary research explores environmental politics, cultures, and governance in Europe and South America.