Nature's Resilience: How Bomb Craters Become Biodiversity Havens

A German V-2 rocket created a crater in Walthamstow Marshes, London, in February 1945. Left to fill naturally, the depression now holds clean water year-round and supports amphibians, insects and rare plants. Similar depressions across Ukraine, formed by artillery since 2022, also fill with water and attract wildlife.

The Guardian

The London pond illustrates a pattern: small bomb-created basins evolve into habitats. In Ukraine, satellite imagery has identified over 600,000 craters in Mykolaiv and Kherson alone, estimating millions nationwide. Craters in Belgium’s Tommelen reserve, also war-generated, now number 144 and host seven amphibian species.

The Guardian

Luke Boyle monitors the Walthamstow site; Prof Jeremy Biggs studies pond ecology; soil scientist Anastasiia Splodytel investigates soil dynamics; and ecologist Bohdan Prots evaluates habitat value and de-mining challenges.

The Guardian

Small, unmanaged ponds support a broader range of freshwater flora and fauna than larger rivers or lakes, including Britain’s rare creeping marshwort. Bomb-created ponds in Belgium sustain newts and tree frogs, while craters in Ukraine often develop water that creates micro-wetlands attracting frogs, newts and insects in dry periods.

The Guardian

Splodytel warns the threat is loss of soil fertility, not toxicity, as explosions disrupt centuries-old soil structure and microbial communities. Prots notes unexploded devices pose a greater risk than the craters themselves, with one half-acre site yielding 36 devices over three years. Early colonisers are pioneer or invasive, complicating recovery.

The Guardian

Under a stewardship agreement overseen by Natural England, the Lee Valley site must retain at least 80 % open water, with reed-mace removed manually when it encroaches. The agreement emphasizes hydrological intervention to preserve the pond’s natural functions.

The Guardian

Estimates of Ukrainian crater numbers vary widely—from 600,000 in two oblasts to “millions” nationwide—reflecting ground verification. Scientific understanding of explosive residue effects on soil biota remains sparse, leaving uncertainty about future fertility and contamination pathways.

The Guardian

• “It’s small but it really punches above its weight,” — Luke Boyle, Ranger, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority

The Guardian

• “Historically, because they are small, ponds have been dismissed as insignificant,” — Prof Jeremy Biggs, CEO, Freshwater Habitats Trust

The Guardian

• “The main threat is not toxicity, but the loss of soil fertility – disruption of soil structure and reduction in microbial populations.” — Anastasiia Splodytel, Soil Scientist

The Guardian

• “The problem is not really the crater,” Prots says.” — Bohdan Prots, Ecologist

The Guardian

Splodytel observes accelerated pedogenesis in the craters, while Prots estimates Ukraine will need roughly 40 years of de-mining to address the roughly 10-year de-mining burden per year of conflict. Ongoing stewardship at Walthamstow will maintain the 80 % open-water target to preserve the pond’s ecological function.

The Guardian