Although mankind has always counted its war losses in terms of dead and wounded soldiers and civilians, destroyed cities and livelihoods, the environment has often remained an undisclosed casualty of war. Water wells were polluted, crops burned, forests cut down, soil poisoned and animals killed to gain military advantage. In addition  United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)  found that over the past 60 years, at least 40 percent of all internal conflicts have been related to the use of natural resources, whether they are high-value resources such as timber, diamonds, gold, and others. oil or scarce resources such as fertile land and water. Conflicts involving natural resources were also found to be twice as likely to recur. The United Nations attaches great importance to ensuring that environmental action is part of conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding strategies, because lasting peace cannot exist if the natural resources that sustain livelihoods and ecosystems are destroyed.