Iron Curtain, Ribbon of Life

March 14, 2009 1:24 PM

When communism crumbled in 1989 it created an opportunity for wildlife. The Iron Curtain that divided communist Eastern Europe from the capitalist West had created a no-man's-land protected by barbed wire and minefields - a last haven for many rare animals and plants.
posted by nam3d (19 comments total)

Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only
posted by stargell at 1:26 PM on March 14, 2009

I'm afraid I do not live in the UK.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:26 PM on March 14, 2009

Sorry I should have mentioned that BBC iPlayer is not available outside of the UK.
posted by nam3d at 1:27 PM on March 14, 2009

Without seeing it, I assume this is similar to the wildlife taking advantage of the DMZ on the Korean peninsula.
posted by Science! at 1:33 PM on March 14, 2009

Green Belt Europe:

The 'Iron Curtain' divided Eastern and Western Europe for almost 40 years cutting off contacts between people on both sides. Nature seized the deserted border areas. Today a string of beautiful habitats with rare plants and animals connects European landscapes and forms a living monument of European history. [...]

posted by pracowity at 1:38 PM on March 14, 2009

The "last haven" was only to last for a short time, however, as most of the rare animals (and plants!) got blown to bits by the mines, or were entangled on the barbed wire, and left to die of starvation (yes, even the plants!).

awww.
posted by slater at 1:39 PM on March 14, 2009

If that lefty bbc won't show stuff outside UK then they should not b3e allowed to film outside that lefty county--selfish socialists!
posted by Postroad at 1:54 PM on March 14, 2009

Saying that "Communism" crumbled in 1989 is a bit like saying "capitalism" crumbling now.

I suspect China and Cuba, for example, would disagree.
posted by rokusan at 2:00 PM on March 14, 2009

There's a political party in Germany that advocates the rebuilding of the Berlin Wall, but I think it's got more to do with keeping racist East Germans out.
posted by dunkadunc at 2:07 PM on March 14, 2009

I was actually in the first group to bike the Czech Greenway from the Austrian border to Telč when it opened (my parents were friends of Lubomir and Tiree Chmelar who founded the project), which follows the Iron Curtain in places, where the concrete-slab roads that connect the old guard towers had become overgrown bike paths — it's lovely.
posted by nicwolff at 2:26 PM on March 14, 2009

YEAH! Those guys all speak English!
posted by Drasher at 2:45 PM on March 14, 2009

This is also happening in the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

It's nice to see that something positive can come of cold war divisions.
posted by wander at 2:47 PM on March 14, 2009

"Sorry I should have mentioned that BBC iPlayer is not available outside of the UK.
posted by wtildesleyPoster at 9:27 PM on March 14"

No, you should have posted a different link. Like this Spiegel or independent article from last year.

Dunkadunc: Die Partei is a project of satire magazine Titanic
posted by kolophon at 2:48 PM on March 14, 2009

No, you should have posted a different link
But there's no problem when the Daily Show or Hulu is liked to the front page, sites that are both blocked in other countries?

just bitter about mefi's uscentrism, and the increasingly regional internet
thanks for the additional links
posted by Popular Ethics at 3:15 PM on March 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

[thanks for the extra links - we'd appreciate if people added them rather than deleting threads that have links that don't work, thanks. metatalk is decent for further comments]
posted by jessamyn at 3:37 PM on March 14, 2009

c.f. The World Without Us
posted by swift at 5:41 PM on March 14, 2009

I'm afraid I do not live in the UK.

That is nothing to be afraid of.
posted by srboisvert at 6:05 PM on March 14, 2009

Germany is building migration bridges over the autobahn for migrating wolves and moose.
posted by grounded at 8:59 PM on March 14, 2009

Had it not crumbled then it would have been a tremendous boon for wildlife. Mostly cockroaches.
posted by Smedleyman at 9:54 PM on March 15, 2009