USD Magazine, Summer 1996

ALCALA A LMANAC

donment of agricultural land has dire economic consequences for developing nations such as Angola, Afghanistan and Cambodia, where mines remain hidden. The natives of these countries have the biggest stake in mine clearing, but the current technology is too sophisticated and costly for most countries to use on a large scale. The desire to help common citizens clear their land and safeguard their towns spurred Wolf to change the way he approached the Armadillo pro– duction problem. "By January 1992 I realized this idea was going to be very hard to sell because the proper users were priced out of the market," says Wolf, who also is director of USD's Transborder Institute. "It occurred to me that I either needed to drop it or create an organization that could develop the idea, which could then prove the validity of the Armadillo." Wolf now heads up Terra Segura (Safe Earth) International, a non-profit corporation dedicated to developing the organizational and technical means to speed the removal of land mines. He and his Terra Segura colleagues are set to publish a manual that will instruct read– ers on how to recognize mines, how to plan an approach to clearing their area of AP mines and what to do when a mine is found. As people read the manual and begin to realize they can clear their land with only minor help from cash-strapped, slow– moving governments, Wolf expects the market for the inexpensive Armadillo ($1,500 per machine versus tens to hundred of thousands of dollars for the average high-tech machine available today) to break open. With this and other simplified technology, and wide– spread education, mine clearing will be accessible to those citizens and countries that need it most. "Terra Segura is really in the busi– ness of streamlining and improving the field of de-mining," Wolf says. "In a sense, mine clearing is a preagricultural activity. When pioneers move into a forested area, they have to clear the land, pull the stumps, clear the rocks and plant the crops. "Let's clear the explosive rocks. Let's try to make it no more difficult a job than a pioneer faces in clearing the ground for the first time."

an Wolf is a man of action. When he heard a BBC news

ground with bayonets or using magnetic detectors in search of unexploded mines. When he sat down to design a mechanical detonator, Wolf had only seen pictures of mines. He was simply moved by the story. "I've always been interested in Southeast Asia, ever since the Vietnam War," Wolf says. "Things there sort of resonate with me." After he completed the design, Wolf began the search for funds to produce the Armadillo, starting at the top with the United Nations. The world organiza– tion contracts regularly with de-mining firms to clear unusable land in countries where fighting has ended and peace pre– vails. Wolf quickly learned, however, that his project was beyond the U.N.'s scope because the organization devotes no money to research and development. As the months wore on, Wolf was reas– sured by the enthusiastic response for his machine from mine-clearing experts, but was told over and over by founda– tions that they didn't do research and development and by investors that there was no market for the Armadillo. More than 110 million mines are buried throughout 65 nations, in fertile land that residents must abandon or risk injury or death to use, Wolf says. The consequent rush of emigrants from out– lying territories into cities and the aban-

reporter explain the devastating effect of unexploded mines on refugees returning to Cambodia, and conclude by saying nothing could be done to quickly and eas– ily clear the mines and protect innocent people, the USD political science profes– sor was outraged. Wolf knew otherwise; he could do something. On that day in 1991, Wolf sketched a picture of a machine now known as the Armadillo anti-personnel mine deto– nator. It's a deceptively simple metal contraption with discs that comb the ground in search of anti-personnel (AP) mines. The machine mimics a human footprint and sets off AP mines without detonating more powerful anti-tank mines, Wolf explains. With steel arms that hold multiple independently rotating discs, the Armadillo has proven in field tests to withstand the blast of AP mines, enabling it to cover a wide area without sustaining serious damage. The Armadillo can be pushed or pulled by a remote-controlled tractor, or winches and cables placed at either side of a field can move the detonator over a large area. People are not required to walk the minefield when using the Armadillo, an improvement over the commonly used practice of prodding the

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